The SysSon platform: A computer music perspective of sonification

Presented at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2015), July 6-10, 2015, Graz, Styria, Austria.We introduce SysSon, a platform for the development and application of sonification. SysSon aims to be an integrative system that serves different types of users, from domain scientists to sonification researchers to composers and sound artists. It therefore has an open nature capable of addressing different usage scenarios. We have used SysSon both in workshops with climatologists and sonification researchers and as the engine to run a real-time sound installation based on climate data. The paper outlines the architecture and design decisions made, showing how a sonification system can be conceived as a collection of specialised abstractions that sit atop a general computer music environment. We report on our experience with SysSon so far and make suggestions about future improvements