Code{strata} Sonifying Software Complexity

Abstract

Code{strata} is an interdisciplinary collaboration between art studies researchers (Rennes 2) and computer scientists (INRIA, KTH). It is a sound installation: a computer system unit made of concrete that sits on a wooden desk. The purpose of this project is to question the opacity and simplicity of high-level interfaces used in daily gestures. It takes the form of a 3-D sonification of a full software trace that is collected when performing a copy and paste command in a simple text editor. The user may hear, through headphones, a poetic interpretation of what happens in a computer, behind the of graphical interfaces. The sentence 'Copy and paste' is played back in as many pieces as there are nested functions called during the execution of the command.