Speaker
Description
We are all blind to the Universe, yet traditionally astronomy communication relies on visual representations, which are not accessible to those who may need or prefer non-visual methods. Audio Universe is a collection of tools and resources to support data analysts, educators, and communicators to represent data and concepts with sound (data sonification). Working with educators, students, musicians, and astronomers (including members of the Blind and Vision Impaired (BVI) community), we have created an immersive planetarium show, Tour of the Solar System, which uses sound to represent objects in the Solar System. Our evaluation demonstrated great success: both BVI and sighted audiences found the sounds enjoyable and useful. Additional feedback from communication leaders revealed the multi-sensory nature made it successful with audiences with broader special educational needs (SEN). Based on this success we are now developing a Sonification Toolkit, working with planetaria and science communicators/educators across the UK, which will enable them to create bespoke educational resources using sonification. I will present what we have learnt from working with SEN groups at the National Space Centre using audio and tactile resources, as part of the development of this Toolkit. Using multisensory resources increases the variety of ways to engage in astronomy making the field more inclusive and open to new audiences who may previously have felt excluded, and as a result we all benefit from shared knowledge, and the wonder of the Universe.
