HearFromBird

Installation

Data Visualization

Exhibition

An interactive installation bringing bird data to life through sound and visuals.

Team

Xinran Li

Duration

4 week

Data & music

Birding seems distant from us, but birds are ubiquitous. We see birds flying, and we hear birds singing. The artwork experience interactively and entertainingly translates data into auditory and version perception.

What Did I Do?

This is a solo project on visualizing information with physical installation. I experimented with different materials and media to find the best solution for both auditory and visual experiences. In the end, I successfully had an exhibition.

This installation transforms bird data into an engaging, interactive experience including a set of data visualizations and a musical experience.

Part 1 features colorful data visualizations that showcase bird counts and species diversity in a visually captivating way. Part 2 offers a musical experience, where bird data is translated into sounds, creating a playful music box that brings the natural world to life through sound and interaction.

What is birding?

Birding is the activity of observing birds for enjoyment or contributing to citizen science projects. For this project, I used data from the Portage Bay Birding Organization in Seattle.

Why is birding?

Bird behaviors like nesting, breeding, and migration are closely tied to the health of our environment and ecosystems. However, many people don’t fully understand or engage with birding.

What does it mean?

I want to inspire people to pay more attention to birds and reflect on our relationship with them, encouraging a deeper connection to nature and the world around us.

See from birds:

Enjoy the unique shapes and colors that represent each piece of birding data.

Read from birds:

The size, shape, color, and number of coils visually reflect different bird data.

Hear from birds

Insert the bookmark into the music box and turn the handle to hear the bird data come to life through sound.

Bald eagle
ORDER: Accipitriformes
One of the largest birds in North America

Color pattern

The shape reflects seasonal data, showing which season the bird is most commonly observed.

Outer Shape

The shape reflects seasonal data, showing which season the bird is most commonly observed.

Inner graph

Circles represent yearly data, with the number of circles indicating how often the bird was observed.

Y-axis

Displays the months from January to December.

X-axis
‍
Shows the frequency of sightings over five years. For example, "3" means the bird was seen three times in March across five years.

‍Higher frequency = higher pitch Lower frequency = lower pitch