Informal lab surveys suggest that the output produced using the QTMA is both "musical" and effective in conveying information. Several subjects given only basic instructions and no training were able to quickly locate doorways and other depth discontinuities while in the proportional mode. In the derivative mode, subjects were able to detect corners and flat level surfaces as well as depth discontinuities however, some training was required.
The work was supported by a research grant from the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) and an NSERC summer research scholarship to B. Kapralos. We thank Prof. Patrick Dymond for suggesting the use of MIDI, Prof. Laurence Harris for suggesting the use of derivative mappings, and Robert Arrabito of DCIEM for his valuable comments and his encouragement. Greg Reid provided help with audio and signal processing facilities.