Sonification of surface parameters for remote tactile sensing

We refer to channels of communication which link the user to various electronic appliances and computers as cognitive communication channels. One especially interesting research topic related to cognitive communication channels deals with a special application called sensory substitution, when information is conveyed through a channel other than the one that is normally used. Besides offering a glimpse of hope to those living with injured sensory organs, sensory substitution can have benefits when designing user interfaces both in terms of cost-effectiveness, as well as the prevention of channel overloading. In this paper, we propose a unified approach to study the relationship between physical parameters and coding parameters that can be used to convey control information through auditory cognitive channels. The approach is demonstrated through an application in which the physical properties of a surface are conveyed to a remote teleoperator through sound. Plans for experiments to be conducted in future investigations are also layed out.