Sound data output and manipulation using haptic feedback

A method for pre-processing sound data to allow haptic sensations associated with said sound data to be output when said sound data is played to a user, the method comprising:

• loading at least a portion of said sound data into a memory of a computer, said sound data describing a sound waveform;
• processing said sound data to find a sound feature having one or more predetermined characteristics;
• and
• when said sound feature is found, storing a marker in a list of markers, wherein said marker indicates a location of said associated sound feature in said sound data, said location to be associated with at least one haptic sensation such that when said sound data is played, said associated at least one haptic sensation is output to a user when said marker is reached during said playing of said sound data.

A computer readable medium including program instructions for performing steps that associate haptic sensations with sound data to assist in navigating through and editing said sound data, the steps comprising:

• loading at least a portion of said sound data into a memory of a computer;
• playing said sound data such that an audio signal is generated and used for outputting audio sound from an audio device, wherein said playing of said sound is controlled by user input received by said computer from a user for navigation of said sound data;
• and
• generating haptic commands based on said sound data, said haptic commands used to output haptic sensations to said user by a haptic feedback device manipulated by said user and in communication with said computer, said haptic sensations corresponding to one or more characteristics of said sound data to assist said user in discerning features of said sound data during said navigation through and editing of said sound data.