Dr Michael Fell's research featured in the Wellcome Collection's new exhibition

The video uses an approach known as ‘data sonification’. To make it, Michael converted national half-hourly electricity data from January 2013 into beeps with frequency determined by the size of the demand. He then recorded the output and altered the pitch and speed.

Speaking about the work Michael said:

‘Sonification can provide an alternative way of experiencing data to the conventional tables and charts. For example in this video, I think the high demand on the grid during the cold patch in the middle of January is conveyed more strikingly than it would be by a graph. You also get a real sense of the rhythm of the nation's electricity demand.'

Read more about Michael Fell’s research.

The Wellcome Collection exhibition is on now and runs until 25 June 2017 in London, before travelling to Manchester and the Netherlands.

Image: Electricity: the spark of life | Woman modelling the latest permed hairstyles for the hairdresser Eugène Limited 1923. © Museum of London