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Computer programs often operate as “black boxes,” producing results but giving no indication of how the program’s underlying algorithm produced those results. By contrast, this talk will demonstrate programs in which the program code has been instrumented with calls to audio functions that produce a sonic representation—a sonification—of the algorithm’s behavior as it runs. By generating sounds that reflect the state of the program as it runs, such programs reveal how their underlying algorithms compute their results and thus operate as “glass boxes” that improve algorithmic transparency. When compared to “black box” programs, such sonifications have been shown to significantly improve computer science students understanding of the underlying algorithms and other computing abstractions.
