Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

REINFORCE logo
REINFORCE logo
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

Institution
CONICET is the main agency that fosters science and technology in Argentina. Currently, the Council has more than 10 thousand researchers, 11 thousand doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, 2,600 technicians and professional support staff, and 1,500 administrative employees. They all operate across the whole country -from the Antarctic up to the Puna, from the Andes Mountain Range up to the Argentine Sea- in 15 Scientific and Technological Centers (CCT), 11 research and transference centers (CIT), a Multidisciplinary Research Center and more than 280 Institutes and exclusive CONICET Centers under the scope of national universities and other institutions. 

Research expertise
CONICET is developing a software devoted to achieving a better and multisensorial access to the astronomical data, the SonoUno. SonoUno is a software which produces an interface which permits to deploy from two or more columns tables of astronomical data, a graphical response, a plot of these data, and also a sound that permits the blind people to explore the data. This tool is being developed based on the study of other softwares (Sonification Sandbox, MathTrax and xSonify) in a framework of standards for accessibility like the ISO 9241-171:2008 (Guidance on software accessibility) and with the purpose to improve these other tools, which in no one case can reach more that the 50% of accessibility according the mentioned standard. In order to develop the first approach of graphical user interface, we perform a theoretical framework based on bibliography of user cases, focused on blind and visual impairment people. Finally, it is possible to save the sound, the plot and a text file with the marked special features on the data, as well as a complete record of the steps followed by the user, in order to detect problems in the design. As the next step, the developer team expects to include the communication with databases like the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) or SIMBAD, and improve the access to the astronomical data for blind and visually impaired users. 

Role in REINFORCE
COCINET team will work towards increasing inclusion in REINFORCE project by developing applications to extend the senses used in the scientific inference, beyond this of the visual, and include in the overall effort and scientific community sense-disabled people (especially visually disabled). The team will also support the overall design of the Citizen Science Engagement Strategy to offer solutions and approaches that are more inclusive and participatory. 


Team


Researcher
Beatriz García

Beatriz García

WP7 leader
Read more Close

Beatriz García holds a PhD in Astrophysics at the National University of La Plata. She is a scientific Researcher from the CONICET, Vice director of ITeDA, past president of the Commission of Education and Development of the Astronomy of the International Astronomical Union (2015-2018). She boasts also the publication of more than 100 papers and more than 100 articles on Education. She is currently professor at the National Technological University, Faculty Mendoza, and at the National University of Cuyo.

Researcher
Wanda L. Diaz-Merced

Wanda L. Diaz-Merced

WP7 member
Read more Close

Wanda L. Diaz-Merced  has a  PhD from  the University of Glasgow, Scotland majoring in a multidisciplinary degree on computing science and astrophysics. Her thesis is in the use of Sound to analyse astrophysics 2D data. Wanda has published scientific papers on the exploration of xray data finding quasi-periodic oscillations, solar wind and gamma ray data among others. Wanda evidenced that the use of sound as an adjunct to visual display increases the sensitivity of traditional astronomers to events that may be masked to the eye. The BBC catalogued her as one of the most trailblazing female scientists. She did  9 internships through the NASA SIECA Program, has worked for the University of Harvard and the International Astronomical Union office of Astronomy for Development in Cape Town.

Get in touch with us

The 30-months project NGIatlantic.eu will push the Next Generation Internet a step further by providing cascade funding to EU-based researchers and innovators in carrying out Next Generation Internet related experiments in collaboration with US research teams.




contact action add button