What are the advantages of using sound in interfaces?

• sound is a natural means of presentation
• vision and hearing are interdependent
• the use of sound would reduce the load on the visual senses
• sound is attention grabbing
• most computers have facilities for the use of sound (which is generally underused)

Who might benefit from the use of sound in interfaces?

• users of graphical interfaces. Sound can provide extra information not displayed on the screen
• visually disabled people can be guided by the use of sound
• users of telephone-based interfaces; these users are totally dependent on sound
• users of interfaces where eyes are busy
• portable computer users, where sound can compensate for lack of screen space

What is the difference between Auditory Icons and Earcons?

• An Auditory Icon makes use of natural everyday sounds in order to represent objects and actions on the interface. For example, as a file is dragged across the screen the noise of paper scraping can be heard.
• An Earcon is a structured audio message based on musical sounds which conveys to the user information about the tasks being carried out. For example, while scrolling up and down a page the user gains information on their place in the document. At the top of the document the pitch of the note given is high; as the user scrolls down the pitch decreases.

Auditory Icons in use...

• Bill Gaver, who developed Auditory Icons, tested the use of sound in collaborative systems.
• One such system was the ARKola cola factory. (Artificial Reality Kit Cola factory). Production machines were given auditory icons: the rate of clinking bottles indicated correct production, smashing bottles indicated an error in the production process.
• In tests, when compared with a system where no sounds were used the system with Auditory Icons proved to be more succesful. There was more collaboration between operators.

Earcons in use...

• Meera Blattner developed the use of Earcons, promoting compound and hierarchical earcons.
• Sonically enhanced buttons were developed which gave the user an indication if they had hit the button correctly, helping the user to avoid mistakes.
• In tests, although sound had no effect on workload, participants strongly preferred the sonically-enhanced buttons to the standard ones.
• Find out more on Earcons (and hear some examples)

Questions arising from the lecture...

• Would you find the extensive use of sound within interfaces annoying?
• How helpful would you find the use of sound in a busy environment?

Page created and maintained by Anne Bryson, Katrin Hartmann, Thom Falls and Melissa Terras.
Last day updated 23/2/98
Page address http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~fallst/lecture12.htm
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