Perceptualization of biomedical data. An experimental environment for visualization and sonification of brain electrical activity

Complex experiments require sophisticated visualization of a large number of parameters. However, physiological characteristics of human perception limit the number of visualized parameters and their dynamics. Multimodal data presentation could increase throughput, introduce new data streams, and improve temporal resolution. The future of biomedical data presentation will probably be marked with multimodal data presentation and integration of multiple diagnostic procedures. Here, the authors present sonification as a second presentation modality. During analysis, multimodal parameters must be set to maximize the distance of changes in the perceptual domain. The authors implemented sonification in their 3D EEG visualization environment to render synesthetic extension of a selected data channel or to introduce new composite parameters. Sonification improved the ability to assess genuine dynamics of brain electrical activity and to perceive inherent spatio-temporal patterns of brain electrical activity.