Listening Post: Giving

Listening Post is a mult imedia an instal lat ion designed to convey the magnitude and diversi ty of onl ine communicat ion. This unique space provides a meaningful render ing of a massive data stream consist ing of thousands of s imultaneous conversat ions. In th is art ic le, we explore speci f ical ly how the audio component of the instal lat ion provides a structure that enables v is i tors to make sensible inferences from tlris complex, dynamic data. Listening Post makes use of a mult i layer audio display consist ing of mechanical noises (relay c l icks). sampled sounds, and synthesized voices. We i l lustrate how these components, together wi th a very s i rnple v isual d isplay, combine and interact to give v is i tors a sense of the topics being discussed in thousands of chat roorns, a l l in real t ime. Finally, we discuss some of the systems and software infrastructure necessary to create the complex audio display.