The field of sonification has progressed greatly over the past twenty years and currently constitutes an established area of research. This article aims at exploiting and organizing the knowledge accumulated in previous experimental studies to build a foundation for future sonification works. A systematic review of these studies may reveal trends in sonification design, and therefore support the development of design guidelines. To this end, we have reviewed and analyzed 179 scientific publications related to sonification of physical quantities. Using a bottom-up approach, we set up a list of conceptual dimensions belonging to both physical and auditory domains. Mappings used in the reviewed works were identified, forming a database of 495 entries. Frequency of use was analyzed among these conceptual dimensions as well as higher-level categories. Results confirm two hypotheses formulated in a preliminary study: pitch is by far the most used auditory dimension in sonification applications, and spatial auditory dimensions are almost exclusively used to sonify kinematic quantities. To detect successful as well as unsuccessful sonification strategies, assessment of mapping efficiency conducted in the reviewed works was considered. Results show that a proper evaluation of sonification mappings is performed only in a marginal proportion of publications. Additional aspects of the publication database were investigated: historical distribution of sonification works is presented, projects are classified according to their primary function, and the sonic material used in the auditory display is discussed. Finally, a mapping-based approach for characterizing sonification is proposed.

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A systematic review of mapping strategies for the sonification of physical quantities.

The role of auditory information on perceptual-motor processes has gained increased interest in sports and psychology research in recent years. Numerous neurobiological and behavioral studies have demonstrated the close interaction between auditory and motor areas of the brain, and the importance of auditory information for movement execution, control, and learning. In applied research, artificially produced acoustic information and real-time auditory information have been implemented in sports and rehabilitation to improve motor performance in athletes, healthy individuals, and patients affected by neurological or movement disorders. However, this research is scattered both across time and scientific disciplines. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview about the interaction between movement and sound and review the current literature regarding the effect of natural movement sounds, movement sonification, and rhythmic auditory information in sports and motor rehabilitation. The focus here is threefold: firstly, we provide an overview of empirical studies using natural movement sounds and movement sonification in sports. Secondly, we review recent clinical and applied studies using rhythmic auditory information and sonification in rehabilitation, addressing in particular studies on Parkinson's disease and stroke. Thirdly, we summarize current evidence regarding the cognitive mechanisms and neural correlates underlying the processing of auditory information during movement execution and its mental representation. The current state of knowledge here reviewed provides evidence of the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of auditory information to improve movement execution, control, and (re)learning in sports and motor rehabilitation. Findings also corroborate the critical role of auditory information in auditory-motor coupling during motor (re)learning and performance, suggesting that this area of clinical and applied research has a large potential that is yet to be fully explored.

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A Review on the Relationship Between Sound and Movement in Sports and Rehabilitation.

It has been shown that humans are able to recognise their own movement. While visual cues have been amply studied, the contribution of auditory cues is not clear. Our aim was to investigate the role of temporal auditory cues in the identification of one's own or others' performance in a complex movement—a golf swing. We investigated whether golfers are able to discriminate between the sounds associated with their own swings and other golfers' swings, by using the relative timing and the overall duration of the movement. The sounds produced by the participants performing 65 m shots have been recorded and used to create the stimuli. The experimental conditions were: participants' swing sounds and the sounds of other golfers having equal both relative timing and overall duration, equal relative timing but different overall duration, different relative timing but equal overall duration, and both different relative timing and overall duration. The task of the participants was to say whether each sound correspo...

Recognising one's own motor actions through sound: the role of temporal factors.

In common practice, sports-perceptual interventions are mainly based on vision. However, research demon- strates that sporting performance can also be improved through the use of sounds, showing the relevance of the auditory channel to convey sports-related information, which can positively affect athletes' motor outcomes. This review examines the potential of audio-based interventions in sport. The relevant concepts are defined, a brief overview of the techniques based on vision is given and laboratory studies demonstrating the effectiveness of sounds in improving the execution of simple rhythmic motor tasks are reviewed. Subsequently, neurophysiological evidence of the influence of sounds on the motor regions of the brain is provided and different kinds of audio-based interventions, emphasising their methodological details and the effects of their application to specific sporting performances are described. Finally, recommendations for further research in this field, aimed both at maximizing the potential of audio-based interventions and their implementa- tion at applied sporting contexts, are suggested.

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Audio-Based Interventions in Sport

In recent years, many solutions based on interactive sonification have been introduced for enhancing sport training. Few of them have been assessed in terms of efficiency or design. In a previous study, we performed a quantitative evaluation of four models for the sonification of elite rowing in a non-interactive context. For the present article, we conducted on-water experiments to investigate the effects of some of these models on two kinematic quantities: stroke rate value and fluctuations in boat velocity. To this end, elite rowers interacted with discrete and continuous auditory displays in two experiments. A method for computing an average rowing cycle is introduced, together with a measure of velocity fluctuations. Participants answered to questionnaires and interviews to assess the degree of acceptance of the different models and to reveal common trends and individual preferences. No significant effect of sonification could be determined in either of the two experiments. The measure of velocity fluctuations was found to depend linearly on stroke rate. Participants provided feedback about their aesthetic preferences and functional needs during interviews, allowing us to improve the models for future experiments to be conducted over longer periods.

Exploration and evaluation of a system for interactive sonification of elite rowing

In the last fifteen years sport psychology researchers have developed different perceptual strategies based on auditory stimulation in order to improve athletes’ skills. Most of these strategies focused on providing athletes with the correct timing of action, in order to make this information available for motor production setting. However, it has also been demonstrated that some sounds can be a useful tool to modulate the physiological arousal in order to optimize sport performances. In our study we propose a protocol of intervention based on the stimulation with an auditory track whose intensity varies in correspondence with the physical effort of each phase of a bench press exercise. Eighteen participants performed three bench press lifts, both in experimental condition (with the auditory stimulus) and in control condition (without any stimulation). We measured the power exerted during the lifting. The results show that athletes can take advantage of the stimulus we provided, evidencing a higher average exertion of power in the experimental condition, compared to the control condition. Concluding, the results suggest that auditory perception can be a productive field of research in developing experimental strategies to improve athletes’ skills.

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Rossella Vono

Papers

Using auditory stimulation to enhance athletes’ strength: An experimental study in weightlifting