Yesterday, I posted about the amazing iPod acoustic hack: a hacker who wanted to deconstruct his iPod's locked-down firmware tricked the iPod into playing out the firmware through the headphones as though it were a song: then he wrote software that analyzed the "music" and turned it back into firmware.
Now, L Perg writes, "'Acoustical graphing' of 1D data streams can be very useful in scientific applications, since auditory processing is multi-channel. For example, in mass spectroscopy, an ion beam that is operating at safe levels can be represented by a low hum; as the beam strength increases — approaching the point it will damage the detector — the pitch and volume can increase, alerting the operator to the problem. Just think of how insanely boring and inefficient it would be to watch the same data wiggling on a computer screen.
"Of course, auditory graphing is also used to represent 1D graphs for people with visual processing disorders (vision impairment and dyslexia).
"…[I]n a moment of serendipity, I opened my email to find information on the translation of geochemical signals into music posted to a paleoclimate mailing list. As cave stalactites grow, they record changing oxygen isotope values, which correspond to the growth and decay of ice sheets. The isotope record from the Frasassi Cave in Italy has been recorded as 'Geophonic music,' available in the book and CD set 'The Drops of Time' (Gocce di Tempo) (ISBN: 2-911762-51-7)."
(Thanks, L!)
Update: Blue Boar sez, "The iPod acoustic hack doesn't use the headphone jack, which would mean programming the sound hardware. Last I checked a few days ago, they still don't have that bit finished on the 4G and later iPods under Linux. Instead, they used the built-in piezo. This is the device that "clicks" when you are scrolling the wheel. If you hadn't noticied it before, unplug your headphones, and hold the iPod up to your ear while you scroll through a long list."
