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ABSTRACT
Recent research suggests that auditory display offers new means for
observing and differentiating complex data. One standard method for
rendering an auditory display is playback of previously generated audio
files. This method is enhanced through playback modification using
tools such as Intel's RSX. MIDI-based synthesizers provide yet another
method for auditory display. These methods have various drawbacks
that are pressed to the limit when confronted with the requirements of
analogical display systems. What is needed, therefore, is a way of
rendering audio that is to auditory display what a system like OpenGL is
to graphical display. Audio Rendering Engine And Library (AREAL)
is a real-time audio renderer and sound synthesis software library.
It offers the software developer and auditory display designer a set of
tools for developing high-quality audio applications for low-cost multimedia
computers using consumer or professional audio hardware. The primary
purpose of AREAL is to enable a "model-based" approach to audio which is
becoming common on high-end (and high-cost) workstations. This paper
gives a brief description of this software system and its potential for
use within the auditory display community.