Listen to Wikipedia
Real-time visualization and sonification of Wikipedia activity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Listen to Wikipedia is a multimedia visualizer developed by Mahmoud Hashemi and Stephen LaPorte which translates recent Wikipedia edits into a display of visuals and sounds. The open source software application creates a real-time statistical graphic with sound from contributions to Wikipedia from around the world. To accomplish this, L2W uses the graphics library D3.js.[1]
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| Listen to Wikipedia | |
|---|---|
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| Developers | Stephen LaPorte, Mahmoud Hashemi |
| Written in | JavaScript and HTML |
| License | 3-clause BSD license |
| Website | Official website  |
| Repository | listen |
The project won Silver in the Interactive Visualization category of the Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards in 2013.[2] The concept of Listen to Wikipedia is based on BitListen, originally known as Listen to Bitcoin, by Maximillian Laumaister.[3][4]
Presentation
Audio
Each edit produces a note in the pentatonic scale.[5] The bell-like sounds of a celesta correspond to edits with a net addition of content to Wikipedia, and the strums of a clavichord correspond to net subtractions of content. The pitch is inversely proportional to the size of the edit (lower pitched notes are produced by larger edits).[6] Newly registered Wikipedia users are welcomed by a string chord.[7][4]
Visuals
Each edit creates a circle of one of three colors: white for registered users, green for unregistered users, and violet for Wikipedia bots. The size of a circle is proportional to the magnitude of change executed by the edit; larger circles are produced by larger edits.[4] The name of the article edited is displayed in the center of the circle. Clicking on the text opens a Wikipedia page in a new tab in the user's browser, showing the revision. A blue bar at the top of the screen will appear whenever a new Wikipedia user is registered, listing their username. At the bottom left corner, there is a bar showing the number of edits per minute.
