Sonifying an Office Gadget to Indicate Air Quality

In this paper we present the prototype of a sonically augmented interactive office gadget that provides information about air quality when a person interacts with it. We report the results of a user study comparing four sonification models (FM, Bell, Wind and Frog Models). Results show that the FM, Bell and Wind models are equally effective in displaying air quality levels, while the Frog model performs less well. Additionally, the Wind and Bell models are preferred over the FM and Frog models as their sonic qualities are considered more appropriate for what they aim to represent. As a result of this study, we aim to further develop the Bell and Wind models as well as a Hybrid Model that combines the main characteristics of both.