brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) (06/13/91)
I've been toying with the idea of adding audio feedback to a graphical
user interface. Something subtle, to make it MORE intuitive.
(This stems from watching _Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation_. I had
the stunned realization that the computer noises ARE intuitive, even
to techno-geeks who watch too much TV... :-))
Some of what I've been pondering.
Windows that make a "pop" when they appear, and a "poof" when they
vanish.
Warning/Info dialogs with some kind of (short) attention signal.
Dire emergencies could have a repeating signal - silenced by any
interaction with the dialog.
Foreground windows (only) could emit a "busy" buzz when they're tied
up with computation. And maybe a happy "beedoop" when they've
finished.
Scroll bars with a quiet "ratchet" click as they move. Maybe a
click per text line (assuming you're scrolling text), or a click
per pixel. The click could also (maybe) change in pitch, getting
higher as you near the top, lower as you near the bottom. If it
were in stereo, I could see something for right-to-left, too...
Radio buttons and check boxes with a solid "kerchunk" as they change
state. Not when you first click on them - when you release and
they actually change their settings. Maybe different noises for
on and off.
Terminal windows that emit a "blit" each time they print a character
- like in the movies. (joke :-)
Now, of course, this could get much too cute, pushing the poor user
into continuous projectile puking or a bruised forehead and a damaged
monitor. So, these sounds should be:
- Very short. I'd guess at around a tenth of a second.
- Probably synthetic. (Sampled sounds would have background
noise.)
- Low key. Subtle.
- Disabled on demand.
Any thoughts on this, folks? Are there any examples of this sort of
thing?
--
Brian
brsmith@cs.umn.edusandy@snoopy.cs.umass.edu (& Wise) (06/13/91)
Apple did some work on this, called "Sonic Finder" (The Finder is the
Mac's "shell.") I think I saw a writeup in SIGCHI Bulletin a couple
of years ago. There are also a couple of PD/Shareware Mac utilities
that let you bind sounds to events.
/s
--
Alexander Erskine Wise /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Software Development Laboratory
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ WISE@CS.UMASS.EDU /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/\/\ This situation calls for large amounts of unadulterated CHOCOLATE! /\/\/\kirlik@chmsr.gatech.edu (Alex Kirlik) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.171211.2716@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >I've been toying with the idea of adding audio feedback to a graphical >user interface. Something subtle, to make it MORE intuitive. > >Any thoughts on this, folks? Are there any examples of this sort of >thing? Much of what you discuss is implemented in Bill Gaver's Sonic Finder for the Macintosh. He's currently at EuroPARC, and had a couple of papers on such things at the most recent CHI conference. Perhaps someone could assist with more precise references. Alex UUCP: kirlik@chmsr.UUCP {backbones}!gatech!chmsr!kirlik INTERNET: kirlik@chmsr.gatech.edu
mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.171211.2716@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >I've been toying with the idea of adding audio feedback to a graphical >user interface. Something subtle, to make it MORE intuitive. > >(This stems from watching _Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation_. I had >the stunned realization that the computer noises ARE intuitive, even >to techno-geeks who watch too much TV... :-)) > >Some of what I've been pondering. > > Windows that make a "pop" when they appear, and a "poof" when they > vanish. > > Warning/Info dialogs with some kind of (short) attention signal. > Dire emergencies could have a repeating signal - silenced by any > interaction with the dialog. > > Foreground windows (only) could emit a "busy" buzz when they're tied > up with computation. And maybe a happy "beedoop" when they've > finished. > > Scroll bars with a quiet "ratchet" click as they move. Maybe a > click per text line (assuming you're scrolling text), or a click > per pixel. The click could also (maybe) change in pitch, getting > higher as you near the top, lower as you near the bottom. If it > were in stereo, I could see something for right-to-left, too... > > Radio buttons and check boxes with a solid "kerchunk" as they change > state. Not when you first click on them - when you release and > they actually change their settings. Maybe different noises for > on and off. > > Terminal windows that emit a "blit" each time they print a character > - like in the movies. (joke :-) > >Now, of course, this could get much too cute, pushing the poor user >into continuous projectile puking or a bruised forehead and a damaged >monitor. So, these sounds should be: > - Very short. I'd guess at around a tenth of a second. > - Probably synthetic. (Sampled sounds would have background > noise.) > - Low key. Subtle. > - Disabled on demand. > >Any thoughts on this, folks? Are there any examples of this sort of >thing? >-- >Brian >brsmith@cs.umn.edu * * * * * * ====================== Meir Green * * * * * * ====================== (Internet) mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== meir@msb.com mig@asteroids.cs.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== (Amateur Radio) N2JPG
mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir) (06/13/91)
Oops! My previous posting lost my comments. So much for the interface of Emacs :-) In article <1991Jun12.190345.515@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir) writes: >In article <1991Jun12.171211.2716@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >>I've been toying with the idea of adding audio feedback to a graphical >>user interface. Something subtle, to make it MORE intuitive. Events and sounds on the Mac: My friend has this sort of thing set up on his Mac SE. It appears that all interface operations and messages can be connected with sounds. Opening and closing windows makes zooming out and in sounds (can you describe them in words?), emptying the trash, in his case, flushing the toilet, makes a flushing sound. Ejecting a disk causes a vomiting sound, and a user error message makes an "Idiot!" sound. I love the idea but, in practice, it can be a bit overwhelming and disturbing after a while. Toned down a bit, it could be quite useful as well as amusing. So, how about a 3D display, like the LED VGA goggles, but beaming separate images into each eye? * * * * * * ====================== Meir Green * * * * * * ====================== (Internet) mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== meir@msb.com mig@asteroids.cs.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== (Amateur Radio) N2JPG
mick1@.llnl.gov (Steve Mick) (06/13/91)
I understand that SoundMaster, an Init for the Macintosh, can be set up to play any number of sounds for a number of given events: window open, window close, drag start, drag stop, etc. Most of the sounds I've seen (heard?!) are rather lengthy but shorter sounds are probably available. Steve Mick Usual Disclaimers
steve@arezzo.siemens.com (Steve Giovannetti) (06/13/91)
>I've been toying with the idea of adding audio feedback to a graphical >user interface. Something subtle, to make it MORE intuitive. > >(This stems from watching _Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation_. I had >the stunned realization that the computer noises ARE intuitive, even >to techno-geeks who watch too much TV... :-)) > >Some of what I've been pondering. > > Windows that make a "pop" when they appear, and a "poof" when they > vanish. > > [ ...other sound effects... ] If I am sitting in a room with five other people, each with audio extensions in their GUI, can you imagine the db level? Five people typing away on semi-noisy keyboards is bad enough, but all that popping, clicking, and buzzing would drive me crazy. Noises like that are cute but their novelty wears out after a time directly proportional to the number of people in your office. Of course you could make everyone wear earphones, but how many people would go for that? Even if you turn down the volume there will still be an audible din of creepy little sounds. (enough to make you start taking thorazine ;-)) I feel that for the visual feedback will have to do. It is not distracting to anyone other than persons looking on your screen. I can't think of a better solution in the multi-person office. Force feedback may actually hold some promise. I have read somewhere that that the tactile sense actually registers faster than the visual. I don't think that sound would be totally inappropriate but there are limitations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Giovannetti (steve@learning.siemens.com) "Enita non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem!" William of Occam ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
kline@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Charley Kline) (06/13/91)
For what it's worth, I installed "Findersounds" which is another thing that behaves as described, with all sorts of "appropriate" noises on window open, window close, drag, resize, scroll, select, and so on. It was the most annoying thing I've ever seen for the Mac. I dragged it out of the System Folder after about ten minutes. ________________________________________________________________________ Charley Kline, KB9FFK, PP-ASEL c-kline@uiuc.edu University of Illinois Computing Services Packet: kb9ffk@ka9mnx 1304 W. Springfield Ave, Urbana IL 61801 (217) 333-3339
brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) (06/13/91)
In <1991Jun12.202741.16629@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> kline@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Charley Kline) writes: >For what it's worth, I installed "Findersounds" which is another >thing that behaves as described, with all sorts of "appropriate" >noises on window open, window close, drag, resize, scroll, select, >and so on. >It was the most annoying thing I've ever seen for the Mac. I dragged >it out of the System Folder after about ten minutes. That's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. Maybe I should rephrase the question. Instead of "Wouldn't it be NEAT if interface operations made sounds", it should be "What interface operations would BENEFIT from audio feedback?" This is a wide open question. Use your imagination (mine's about tapped). What other common operations are there and what kind of sound would suggest that operation to you? Like... Delete ("zap"?) Paste ("splat"?) Sort ("riffle-riffle" - paper shuffling, only for as long as sorting takes. Obviously, there are a LOT of possibilities for cpu-bound tasks, since the user is probably bored to death waiting anyway...) The hardest part here is figuring out WHERE to use WHAT sounds unintrusively. The best one I've thought of so far is the variable pitch "click" on scrolling. It gives you a lot of information - whether you're going up or down (from hearing two consecutive clicks and hearing the pitch difference), how fast (useful for rate-scrolled windows), and how close you are to each end (high or low pitch). Maybe even a quick "thud" noise whe you reach the end. It has the potential to make the interface feel more real. -- Brian brsmith@cs.umn.edu
lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Louis Koziarz) (06/13/91)
brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >Maybe I should rephrase the question. Instead of "Wouldn't it be NEAT >if interface operations made sounds", it should be "What interface >operations would BENEFIT from audio feedback?" I was about ready to followup to your original post when the system went down and came up with this response. This is a much better question to ask, IMHO. >This is a wide open question. Use your imagination (mine's about >tapped). What other common operations are there and what kind of >sound would suggest that operation to you? Well, you can look at the audio channel question from a few points of view. The examples you mentioned, and the ones that are used in SonicFinder seem to simply provide redundant feedback to visual operations that are occuring upon the desktop. With the advent of multitasking, I think a much better idea would be to provide auditory feedback on background processes, since your visual channel is already preoccupied with the foreground task. Why not use the other hemishpere as long as it's idle, right? A good table to segregate the visual and auditory channels comes from B.H. Deatherage, as lifted from Chapter 9 of _Readings in Human Computer Interaction_ by Baecker and Bruxton (eds). Here goes: Use auditory presentation if: Use visual presentation if: ------------------------------- --------------------------------- 1: The message is simple. 1. The message is complex. 2. The message is short. 2. The message is long. 3. The message will not be 3. The message will be referred referred to later. to later. 4. The message deals with 4. The message deals with events events in time. in space. 5. The message calls for 5. The message does not call for immediate action immediate action. 6. The visual system of the 6. The auditory system of the person person is overburdened. is overburdened. 7. The receiving location is too 7. The receiving location is bright or dark-adaptation too noisy. integrity is necessary. 8. The person's job allows him to 8. The person's job requires him remain in one position. to move about continually. Your original article pretty much picked up on these concepts, and they're important ones. This might explain why so many Mac users trashed SonicFinder. A few good concepts came through, such as the rising pitch of the water sound as the file copy reached completion. A background compile could benefit from this, since a user can judge progress as well as speed of progress in one metric. I'm not anywhere near an expert on HCI (I'd like to be! :), but these are a few of the things I've picked up along the way. The book I mentioned earlier is a good read, although a bit dated by now (1987). The auditory chapter deals a lot with speech synth and recognition, but there are a few good points to be found about non-speech audio. Maybe with 3-D sound we can do a few neat things. Of course the user can shut it off at any time, nobody would like to work in an office full of chattering CPUs, which means audio will have to be a redundant medium for a long time, unless everyone gets headphones. Before I get _too_ long here, I think audio could be very useful for interface design, but it needs to be thought out carefully. We all rely upon audio feedback, like the sound your car door makes when it doesn't shut right, or when your muffler springs a leak. Can anyone pick it up from here and think of new directions for sound? Louis Koziarz University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign koziarz@uiuc.edu
haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) (06/13/91)
I've never tried making an interface with sound, but I've often wanted one.
But it seems to me I want it for a different reasons than you do. I would like
a sound to tell me that the machine is traching, that the network is jammed
and when important mail comes by. These sounds work as signals and contains
little information besides that. I believe that:
1.Sound is useful for attracting attention.
2.Sound (as opposed to speach) is *not* useful for communicating
information.
I don't need to hear a "zap" when deleting a file since I get enough visual
feedback already. When working at the machine my attention is already there to
catch changes in the display (and thus the working environment). When waiting
for something to happen I would like to look at my desk instead. With my
attention some other place a sound that tells me the sorting is done is
appropriate. Likewise, when the humming from a large NFS transfer vanishes I
know I can go back to work on the machine. A friend of mine has a PC
with a heat regulated fan, which makes a different sound when the machine
accesses the network. He likes it because it tells him why the PC slows down.)
Remember also that several people often share an office and that alerting
sounds are heard by all of them. A faint humming mix in with other white noise
and is less disturbing.
--
- halkers@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Chris Dollin) (06/13/91)
Brian R. Smithm says:
Sort ("riffle-riffle" - paper shuffling, only for as long as
sorting takes. Obviously, there are a LOT of possibilities
for cpu-bound tasks, since the user is probably bored to death
waiting anyway...)
Why should the user be bored? They just run tetris, or patience, or ....
(almost anything that doesn't need vast amounts of CPU itself).
--
Regards, Chris ``GC's should take less than 0.1 second'' Dollin.flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal) (06/13/91)
sandy@snoopy.cs.umass.edu (& Wise) writes: >There are also a couple of PD/Shareware Mac utilities that let you bind sounds >to events. I've seen some TERRIBLE implementations, such as "finder sounds". The Sonic Finder is very nice. It was designed by someone who knew about macs and who also knew about sounds and human auditory perception. He spent a considerable amount of time designing the sounds to be used. These other things I've seen are all terrible. They were designed by people who knew about macs but didn't know anything about sound. They didn't seem to spend much time on the sounds, and they sound awful. Other posters mentioned deleting these implementations within minutes. You would not have the same reaction to the original sonic finder. As the original poster later pointed out, it's not just the bare fact of associating sounds with actions, it's doing it in a way which is beneficial to the user (not just "cool"). ajr
Pete Welter (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun13.003210.23083@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Louis Koziarz) writes: >occuring upon the desktop. With the advent of multitasking, I think a much >better idea would be to provide auditory feedback on background processes, >since your visual channel is already preoccupied with the foreground task. >Why not use the other hemishpere as long as it's idle, right? There was a presentation at CHI '91 about using sounds (in this case musical notes and instruments) to monitor the processors in a parallel machine. One example assigned each processor a note, and increased the amplitude the proportional to the length that the processor had been idle. The other example used both instruments (one for each processor) and note to monitor when messages were sent and received between pairs of processors. To my mind, it sounding surprisingly pleasant, when I expected cacophony. The people who did it are at U of Southwestern Louisiana (Albright, Francioni, and Jackson). The real measure of such an auralization is whether any information can be gleaned from it, and although they said that their parallel computing expert benefitted, there are no hard numbers to back this up yet (this was advertised as work in progress). >Before I get _too_ long here, I think audio could be very useful for interface >design, but it needs to be thought out carefully. We all rely upon audio >feedback, like the sound your car door makes when it doesn't shut right, or >when your muffler springs a leak. Can anyone pick it up from here and think >of new directions for sound? As opposed to the musical sounds I talked about above, these examples fall into the category of "everday sounds." In fact, Bill Gaver wrote about "The Psychology of Everday Sounds," exploring when and why these sounds work. He and Randy Smith presented an interesting paper about the "ARKola Simulation", which used sounds to augment a soda bottling factory simulation. They then tested people using the simulation (both getting it working and dealing with problems) with and without sound, and the sound version was more effective (and a lot more interesting the subjects said). I thought that neatest idea they incorporated was having each object make sounds, and then scaling the amplitude of the sounds to whether it was showing the the window (this was a bigger than screen representation), and if not, how far away from the visible region the object was. - Pete Pete Welter Institute for the Learning Sciences - Northwestern University welter@ils.nwu.edu
yee@osf.org (Michael K. Yee) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.215523.7379@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: > The hardest part here is figuring out WHERE to use WHAT sounds > unintrusively. > Agreed. This is why a sound feedback MUST be configurable. > The best one I've thought of so far is the variable pitch "click" on > scrolling. It gives you a lot of information - whether you're going > up or down (from hearing two consecutive clicks and hearing the pitch > difference), how fast (useful for rate-scrolled windows), and how > close you are to each end (high or low pitch). Maybe even a quick > "thud" noise whe you reach the end. > NO, This is one of the first things I turned off when I used SoundMaster on the Mac. The scrollbar sound was cute, but slowed down the scrolling and was annoying (i.e. it was too long in duration). NOTE: This is an good example of why audio feedback must be configurable by the user. The most useful audio feedback I've found when using SoundMaster is a audio indication of when I enter and leave a legal drop site (e.g. dragging a file over the trashcan). The audio feedback augmented the visual feedback so well, that I could almost hit the target (e.g. the trashcan) without looking. > It has the potential to make the interface feel more real. > -- > Brian Agreed. =Mike -- == Michael K. Yee <yee@osf.org> -+- OSF/Motif Team == Open Software Foundation - 11 Cambridge Center - Cambridge, MA 02142 == "Live simply, so that others may simply live."
yee@osf.org (Michael K. Yee) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun13.003210.23083@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Louis Koziarz) writes: > Use auditory presentation if: Use visual presentation if: > ------------------------------- --------------------------------- > 2. The message is short. 2. The message is long. ... > Your original article pretty much picked up on these concepts, and they're > important ones. This might explain why so many Mac users trashed SonicFinder. > A few good concepts came through, such as the rising pitch of the water > sound as the file copy reached completion. First, thanks for posting the audio verses visual feedback list. I think that Bill Buxton has done some incredible work in the area of audio feedback and input techniques. Secondly, don't you think that your example conflict with item 2 from your list. I for one would turn this particular feature off, if possible. ... > Louis Koziarz =Mike -- == Michael K. Yee <yee@osf.org> -+- OSF/Motif Team == Open Software Foundation - 11 Cambridge Center - Cambridge, MA 02142 == "Live simply, so that others may simply live."
jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) (06/13/91)
Audio feedback can be nice, but the system should always try to work and work well with no audio feedback. I work in an office with real walls separating me from my neighbors, but I can still hear the beeps and other audio effects from their computers, and it is usually annoying. When I'm able to, I get into termcap files and use the visible bell option to make the beeps from most software turn into screen flashes of one kind or another. An occasional beep is OK, and I doubt I'd object to a quiet synthesized paper riffling noise, but I do object to listening to a Mac user at work when he's programmed his machine to wretch as it ejects a diskette, howl with laughter when he makes an error, and so on. This may be cute, but it's disruptive! Even keyclick noises can be disruptive, and I've never sympathized with some manufacturers whose machines have naturally silent keyboards with bad tactile feedback so they decided that a sharp beep would substitute for the lack of a click or good feel on the keyboard. Doug Jones jones@cs.uiowa.edu
freek@fwi.uva.nl (Freek Wiedijk) (06/13/91)
haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) writes: > 2.Sound (as opposed to speach) is *not* useful for communicating > information. I guess you have never played a video game... Freek "the Pistol Major" Wiedijk E-mail: freek@fwi.uva.nl #P:+/ = #+/P?*+/ = i<<*+/P?*+/ = +/i<<**P?*+/ = +/(i<<*P?)*+/ = +/+/(i<<*P?)**
prisoner@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Allen S. Firstenberg) (06/14/91)
brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >That's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. >Maybe I should rephrase the question. Instead of "Wouldn't it be NEAT >if interface operations made sounds", it should be "What interface >operations would BENEFIT from audio feedback?" I see audio being used best in "invisible" operations, where the user needs to monitor whats going on, but isn't paying full attention to the process. >This is a wide open question. Use your imagination (mine's about >tapped). What other common operations are there and what kind of >sound would suggest that operation to you? I've seen the mail program for Suns let you set an audio file to play when you get mail (you can even set the audio file for specific people). For example, set a "drip" sound for most normal mail, so you have a vague idea how much mail you have waiting for you. Important mail can be set to (say) a recording of the persons voice? >The hardest part here is figuring out WHERE to use WHAT sounds >unintrusively. Above all, I feel that it should add something _usefull_ to the interface. More than just fun, but something that might be noticed better when there is sound attached to the function. Along those lines, we should beware to add toko much sound, otherwise we run the risk of the user ignoring _all_ sounds. >It has the potential to make the interface feel more real. And more confusing. Is realisim what we want? OR better cognition? Can we violate principles of the real world and get people to work better _AND_ enjoy working more? Allen -- UID = 5553, CCID = F8PG, ID = 6 I am just a number prisoner@rpi.edu "refs unpersons" prisoner@acm.rpi.edu --- 1984 prisoner@rpitsmts.bitnet
erin@erin.EBay.Sun.COM (Rob VanDell SSE) (06/14/91)
This may sound rather silly, but I (being an old fart) remember the most audible GUI ever invented. It featured: A virtual screen in Y, 80 characters in X. A single click-bop newline in combination with a ker-bap-chunk on retrn. A bump signified a space, and a click-bap-bump if a character was printable. (If however one forgot the 80chr/line limit, it made a bip-click-bump-bap-bump on every character anyway.) A form-feed was a BOP-BOP-BOP-BOP... To signify powered operation, it made a thip-thip-thip (backgrounded with a 60hz hummm) attributed invariably to poor typing skills. There were many widgets, only four buttons, and a slider (for mirror memory activation) , a knob control for the virtual X display, and an interesting widget that extened the functionality of various widgets, we called it widget-tape. It's use was mostly involved in binding widgets to the base-frame... When in batch mode, there were various other audible signals as well. A nick-hum denoted a successful character read in. A thwak-chunck was indicative of successful mirror buffering. Cut & paste was not really considered a feature at the time, but more a way of life. What was this, you say??? Teletype-ASR33... It's to laugh, RobV.
spf@cbnewsl.att.com (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) (06/14/91)
haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) writes: > 2.Sound (as opposed to speach) is *not* useful for communicating > information. Wow. This is a pretty strong statement. Do you have evidence? You see, I've spent about 10 years quantifying the ADVANTAGES of sound for pattern recognition in multivariate time series, and I know of several other investigators doing similar work for other types of quantitative exploratory data analysis. To put it simply, the experimental evidence in the literature contradicts your assertion rather embarrassingly. I've included a brief bibliography below, but there are others I know of not represented here. Good science puts inquiry ahead of speculation. Steve Frysinger References Bly, S., Frysinger, S. P., Lunney, D., Mansur, D. L., Mezrich, J. J., Morrison, R.C. (1985). Panel: Communicating with Sound. In L. Borman and W. Curtis (Ed.), Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings of CHI'85 (pp. 115-119). New York, New York: Association of Computing Machinery. Bly, S., Frysinger, S. P., Lunney, D., Mansur, D. L., Mezrich, J. J., Morrison, R.C. (1987). Communication with Sound. In R. Baecker & W. A. S. Buxton (Eds.), Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach (pp. 420-424). Los Altos: Morgan Kaufmann. Bly, S. (1982). Sound and Computer Information Presentation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis. Chambers, J. M., Mathews, M. V., & Moore, F. R. (1974). Auditory Data Inspection (Technical Memorandum 74-1214-20). Murray Hill, NJ: AT&T Bell Laboratories. Frysinger, S.P. (1988). Pattern Recognition in Auditory Data Representation. Unpublished thesis, Stevens Institute of Technology. Frysinger, S.P. (1990). Applied Research in Auditory Data Representation. In E. J. Farrell (Chair), Extracting Meaning From Complex Data - Proceedings of the SPIE/SPSE Symposium on Electronic Imaging". Gaver, W. W. (1986). Auditory Icons: Using Sound in Computer Interfaces. Human-Computer Interaction, 2, 167-177. Mansur, D. L. (1984). Graphs in Sound: A Numerical Data Analysis Method for the Blind. Unpublished master's thesis, University of California, Davis. Mezrich, J. J., Frysinger, S. P., & Slivjanovski, R. (1984). Dynamic Representation of Multivariate Time-series Data. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 79, 34-40. Pollack, I. & Ficks, L. (1954). Information of Elementary Multidimensional Auditory Displays. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 26, 155-158. Speeth, S. D. (1961). Seismometer Sounds. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 33, 909-916. Yeung, E. S. (1980). Pattern Recognition by Audio Representation of Multivariate Analytical Data. Analytical Chemistry, 52, 1120-1123.
haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) (06/14/91)
In article <1991Jun13.220557.3075@cbnewsl.att.com> spf@cbnewsl.att.com (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) writes: haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) writes: > 2.Sound (as opposed to speach) is *not* useful for communicating > information. Wow. This is a pretty strong statement. Do you have evidence? You see, I've spent about 10 years quantifying the ADVANTAGES of sound for pattern recognition in multivariate time series, and I know of several other investigators doing similar work for other types of quantitative exploratory data analysis. To put it simply, the experimental evidence in the literature contradicts your assertion rather embarrassingly. I've included a brief bibliography below, but there are others I know of not represented here. Good science puts inquiry ahead of speculation. In fact I am a bit embarrassed, but more because I used the wrong words than said the wrong thing (is that a contradiction?). What I meant was that: 1. I want sound to give me signals to direct my attention to a source of information. 2. I don't want too many signals and thus information given this way. I did not intend to say anything about our ~ability~ to use sound as an information source, only my ~willingness~ to do so. If there still is evidence that I should change my mind about this I would be glad to be told so. :-) -- - hal
mathew@mantis.co.uk (Giving C News a *HUG*) (06/14/91)
haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) writes: > I've never tried making an interface with sound, but I've often wanted one. [...] > When waiting > for something to happen I would like to look at my desk instead. With my > attention some other place a sound that tells me the sorting is done is > appropriate. Likewise, when the humming from a large NFS transfer vanishes I > know I can go back to work on the machine. The BBC's TV series "The Computer Programme" attempted to teach people to write programs in BASIC. When they were showing the program running, they piped over quiet bits of music -- the instrumental breaks from "It's More Fun to Compute" by Kraftwerk. I've often thought that it would be nice to have similar musical cues to tell me how far make has got through compiling my programs. Each stage of the process would have a different musical motif. In a system with several background processes active, each process could be a different instrument. I have a vision of a computer system playing something like Brian Eno's "Music For Airports", with each type of sound representing a different part of the system and the musical patterns representing the activity going on... mathew
lnk10562@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Louis Koziarz) (06/14/91)
Pete Welter writes: >There was a presentation at CHI '91 about using sounds (in this case musical >notes and instruments) to monitor the processors in a parallel machine. I had to miss CHI this year...sigh... >One example assigned each processor a note, and increased the amplitude the >proportional to the length that the processor had been idle. The other >example used both instruments (one for each processor) and note to monitor >when messages were sent and received between pairs of processors. To my >mind, it sounding surprisingly pleasant, when I expected cacophony. The >people who did it are at U of Southwestern Louisiana (Albright, Francioni, >and Jackson). The real measure of such an auralization is whether any >information can be gleaned from it, and although they said that their >parallel computing expert benefitted, there are no hard numbers to back >this up yet (this was advertised as work in progress). My expectations matched yours here. At first read, I was thinking major noise pollution in a case like that, but if the selection of sounds are right, it probably would sound pretty good. The true advantage I find in a system like that is that experienced users can derive a whole lot of information holistically from listening to the sounds. And you do mention that the PP expert benefitted. There is a lot of work being done in integrated status display indicators, where information from a lot of sources is crunched into a single display indicator (say, an octogon). When certain factors change, the shape will change (for example, one vertex may draw closer to the center). An experienced user can draw a lot from that small change. This already seems to exist in a lot of places, such as the PC fan that slows when being accessed on a network. These are subtle cues, but do convey valid information... Louis Koziarz University of Illinois koziarz@uiuc.edu
johnb@searchtech.com (John Baldwin) (06/14/91)
In article <STEVE.91Jun12161817@arezzo.siemens.com> steve@arezzo.siemens.com (Steve Giovannetti) writes: > If I am sitting in a room with five other people, each with audio > extensions in their GUI, can you imagine the db level? Five people > typing away on semi-noisy keyboards is bad enough, but all that > popping, clicking, and buzzing would drive me crazy. My first question here would be: "If you're concerned about improving human performance with respect to working with computers (actually, accomplishing any solitary-type work at all!), then why do you have six people working together in a single room with little/no auditory or visual isolation from each other?" > I feel that for the visual feedback will have to do. It is not distracting >to anyone other than persons looking on your screen. I can't think of a >better solution in the multi-person office. Then the solution is better education of the managerial types in charge of alloting funds for the office environment. There is, in fact, an ROI associated with installing dividers and having a large percentage of individual offices. -- John Baldwin | johnb@searchtech.com Search Technology, Inc. | srchtec!johnb@gatech.edu Atlanta, Georgia | johnb%srchtec.uucp@mathcs.emory.edu
mac@cis.ksu.edu (Myron A. Calhoun) (06/15/91)
>Pete Welter writes: >One example assigned each processor a note, and increased the amplitude the >proportional to the length that the processor had been idle. The other >example used both instruments (one for each processor) and note to monitor >when messages were sent and received between pairs of processors. To my >mind, it sounding surprisingly pleasant, when I expected cacophony. The >people who did it are at U of Southwestern Louisiana (Albright, Francioni, >and Jackson). The real measure of such an auralization is whether any >information can be gleaned from it, and although they said that their >parallel computing expert benefitted, there are no hard numbers to back >this up yet (this was advertised as work in progress). 'Way back in 1964 I remember listening to a speaker monitoring one bit of some register on what I recall was a CDC 6600 in the computing center of Arizona State University. The operators said they could pretty-much tell just how well things were processing without even watching the console. --Myron. -- # Myron A. Calhoun, Ph.D. E.E.; Associate Professor (913) 539-4448 home # INTERNET: mac@cis.ksu.edu (129.130.10.2) 532-6350 work # UUCP: ...rutgers!ksuvax1!harry!mac 532-7353 fax # AT&T Mail: attmail!ksuvax1!mac W0PBV @ K0VAY.KS.USA.NA
aipdc@castle.ed.ac.uk (Paul Crowley) (06/15/91)
I asked a friend what I should do first to improve my four-dimension
program. He said
"It should play Bach."
____
\/ o\ Paul Crowley aipdc@castle.ed.ac.uk \ /
/\__/ Part straight. Part gay. All queer. \/
"I say we kill him and eat his brain."
"That's not the solution to _every_ problem, you know!" -- Rudy Ruckerdavid@twg.com (David S. Herron) (06/15/91)
In article <HALTRAET.91Jun13121041@gondle.idt.unit.no> haltraet@gondle.idt.unit.no (Hallvard Traetteberg) writes: > 1.Sound is useful for attracting attention. > 2.Sound (as opposed to speach) is *not* useful for communicating > information. er.. no. You go on to give a bunch of cases were sound *does* communicate information .. >I don't need to hear a "zap" when deleting a file since I get enough visual >feedback already. Yes.. This would be a silly use of sound. >When working at the machine my attention is already there to >catch changes in the display (and thus the working environment). When waiting >for something to happen I would like to look at my desk instead. With my >attention some other place a sound that tells me the sorting is done is >appropriate. Or when that window is iconized... This is something which lots of people want. It's also pretty easy to type `echo ^G^G^G' into that window before iconizing it.. > Likewise, when the humming from a large NFS transfer vanishes I >know I can go back to work on the machine. Isn't this communication? > A friend of mine has a PC >with a heat regulated fan, which makes a different sound when the machine >accesses the network. He likes it because it tells him why the PC slows down.) Isn't this communication? >Remember also that several people often share an office and that alerting >sounds are heard by all of them. A faint humming mix in with other white noise >and is less disturbing. Yes. Anecdote: one old office mate of mine was so sensitive about extraneous noise that a keyboard which provides audible click feedback was too much for him. Even when the volume was turned all the way down. This is regardless of the fact that I found the click all too useful. Sound doesn't have to be used for a one-shot notification of event (eg alert). I read once of a virtual reality application for molecule construction. You'd put on your gloves and waldos & be able to move around molecules and try to fit them together. The feedback for how well they fit together was communicated via the "resistance" experienced in the gloves. Sound could be used in a similar way. For instance two sounds when close together will "beat" (because of peculiarities in frequency cancellation). Musicians have used this technique for centuries for tuning instruments. (Except that not all people are able to hear the "beating"..) David
conrad@tharr.UUCP (Conrad Longmore) (06/16/91)
If I remember there's something called Sonic Finder for the Mac that allows
you to 'tap' items to see what they are and how big they are. Each class of
item has its own type of sound, and the pitch of the sound indicates the size
of the item.
However, remember that we have FIVE senses. I'd sooner not have to use taste
or smell, but it should be possible to use sight, sound and touch in the
interface.
--
// Conrad Longmore / Uucp: ..!ukc!axion!tharr!conrad / All opinions //
// Academic SysAdmin / Janet: tharr!conrad @ uk.ac.ukc / stated are //
// Bedford College / Or try: conrad @ tharr.uucpi / belong to //
// Computer Centre / Linenoise research a speciality / someone else //
// ** T H A R R ** / Free access to Usenet in the UK / * 0234 841503 *//J.W.Harley@newcastle.ac.uk (Jon Harley) (06/17/91)
conrad@tharr.UUCP (Conrad Longmore) writes: > >However, remember that we have FIVE senses. I'd sooner not have to use taste >or smell, but it should be possible to use sight, sound and touch in the >interface. I agree about smell, but why not taste? Isn't it just the next step after touchscreens? Hmm... strawberry for completed thesis chapters... coffee flavour for the net.news window... something nasty for corrupted files... any ideas? :-) jon. _____________________________ / --Jonathan Harley-- // // // A creative sensitive playful ____ / J.W.Harley@uk.ac.newcastle // // ////// diplomatic bisexual idealist. \ / /__PHONE:-091 222 8504____/////////// // -What six words describe YOU? \/
graziano@charlie.heurikon.com (John Graziano) (06/17/91)
In article <YEE.91Jun16192018@pmin27.osf.org> yee@osf.org (Michael K. Yee) writes: >> I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of any at the moment. >> >> --graz > > I think the most useful audio feedback I have is from my > DECstation's noisy DEC hard disk. The hard disk that has my swap > partition rattles whenever it is being accessed. From this audio > feedback, I know... > > a. when my compiles has finished > b. if my process has been swapped out (rattling when I try > to activate buttons/menus in the application) > c. if someone is accessing my machine (i.e. login, ftp, or > whatever). You're absolutely correct. I realized this as I was listening to my disk grind through the posting of the above message! (I *knew* I would think of something as soon as I posted the message :-) I get all of the above info from my hard disk, including being able to tell when my program hangs in a loop. However, the main advantage to this type of feedback is not that it provides more information than a visual display, but that it provides _cheaper_ information. I think that most people would rather get this feedback from disk noise rather than use CPU time to run a visual disk monitor, even if that monitor gave them more information. The other advantage to this feedback is that I tend to process it sub- consciously, only noticing the noise if it doesn't behave as I expect it to. At least in my case, it seems that visual information always has to be dealt with at a higher level of awareness. Maybe the idea of good information needs to be defined more specifically - ie. does "more information" == "better information" ? (now let's see if, once again, the last line of my article gets magically appended to the 'Subject' line) --graz
schwartz@nynexst.com (S. H. Schwartz) (06/17/91)
In article <qm8k_+_@rpi.edu> prisoner@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Allen S. Firstenberg) writes: > >I've seen the mail program for Suns let you set an audio file to play when >you get mail (you can even set the audio file for specific people). For >example, set a "drip" sound for most normal mail, so you have a vague idea >how much mail you have waiting for you. Important mail can be set to (say) >a recording of the persons voice? I can't find this. Does it come with the standard software, or did you get it separately? -- S. H. Schwartz schwartz@nynexst.com Expert Systems Laboratory 914-683-2960 NYNEX Science and Technology Center White Plains NY 10604
harrison@csl.dl.nec.com (Mark Harrison) (06/18/91)
In article <1991Jun17.164645.3605@nynexst.com> schwartz@nynexst.com (S. H. Schwartz) writes: [playing audio files on sun] >I can't find this. Does it come with the standard software, or did you >get it separately? The easiest way is "cat soundfile >/dev/audio". The easiest way to record is "cat /dev/audio >soundfile". I have some simple software that controls thing like output device, record & playback gain, if anybody is interested. Mark. -- Mark Harrison | Note: harrison@ssd.dl.nec.com and harrison@csl.dl.nec.com | necssd!harrison are not operating at (214)518-5050 | present. Please forward mail through the | above address. Sorry for the inconvenience.
bagwill@swe.ncsl.nist.gov (Bob Bagwill) (06/18/91)
Some comments: 1) A beneficial side-effect of Auditory User Interfaces (AUI's [pronounced like when you get a boo-boo]) is that vendors will have to put some effort into making their machines quieter. Yay! 2) As big shops move to "lights-out data centers" with all personnel working remotely, perhaps audio feedback can substitute for listening to the disk drives and glancing at console lights. A justification for "Audio Extensions to X" and speakers on X-terminals? 3) Just like in some dorms, headphones will be mandatory in cubicles. 4) I don't think there is a useful class of general-purpose sounds. Sounds need to be domain and task specific. You don't want to use the same sounds for "end of page" and "meltdown imminent". I'll try to track down some of the references people have posted so my opinions can be made from a little dangerous knowledge rather than from my current state of blissful ignorance. :-) -- Bob Bagwill NIST Software Engineering Group/CSL Bldg 225, Room B266 rbagwill@nist.gov Gaithersburg, MD 20899 voice 301-975-3282 fax 301-590-0932
ajm@seqp4.sequoia.com (A.J.Madison) (06/19/91)
In article <1991Jun14.195807.3996@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu>, mac@cis.ksu.edu (Myron A. Calhoun) writes: > 'Way back in 1964 I remember listening to a speaker monitoring one bit > of some register on what I recall was a CDC 6600 in the computing > center of Arizona State University. The operators said they could > pretty-much tell just how well things were processing without even > watching the console. > --Myron. Shoot, at Data General, we had a bunch of these ancient platter drives, and after the introduction of a robust File System OS (with duplicate directories on opposite ends of the platters) you had audio feedback before the console could type (you could hear the r/w heads slamming against opposite ends of their range of travel). Unfortunately, these platter drives soon received new nicknames: Washing Machines. Not to start a flame war, but I'm awfully fond of my Personal Stereo; I made a real point of turning off the Beep on X-terminal so as to not annoy my neighbors because I would never hear the Beep. On a separate note: alot of your discussions here are identical to sci.virtual-worlds, especially the eye-tracking discussions. They also have some good ideas of about doing neat things with the PowerGlove. Just a lurker on the net. -- when everyone is out to get you, being paranoid is just good thinking. - Dr. Johnny Fever <in other words, standard disclaimer> A.J. Madison ajm@sequoia.com Sequoia Systems Inc.
mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir) (06/19/91)
Boy do I long for a communications package which will say: "file transfer completed"! I am tired of checking constantly on hour-long transfers. Maybe the system could also report transfer errors, etc. Of course, all this should be configurable by the end user (verbal result on/off, error reporting on/off, with individual and system volume control, as well. * * * * * * ====================== Meir Green * * * * * * ====================== (Internet) mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== meir@msb.com mig@asteroids.cs.columbia.edu * * * * * * ====================== (Amateur Radio) N2JPG
alistair@minster.york.ac.uk (06/19/91)
I have only just come across this newsgroup and this discussion - in fact I seem to have missed the beginning of it. The topic is of great interest because it is the focus of the work of several people here. I am particularly interested in the use of sound to make GUIs accessible to blind people (an obvious case where sounds do have a certain advantage over visual communication). I have archived the discussion and no doubt wil have LOTS to add to it, when I've read it all, but for the moment, let me respond to the 'Sounds are no use because they are just annoying. I need to work in a quiet office' argument. Sit back. What can you hear - nothing? I doubt it. Let me describe my current soundscape. The fan on the back of my Sun is whirring. There goes a car on the road outside, and from the hissing sound I know the road is wet. There are voices in the next office. I can't hear what they are saying, but I know Paul and Susan are there. There goes a bus. Oh yes, my Mac's on too, I can just hear it's fan. Somebody's started printing something on the laser printer next door - oops, it's jammed. And am I going crazy with all this noise? In fact simple experiments have shown that peopl do go crazy if placed in anechoic chambers for too long. My point is that sounds need not necessarily be annoying, even though most of the ones currently generated by computers are. It just depends on what the sounds are. One of our objectives is to find out what kinds of sounds we should be using. Furthermore, sounds can convey a lot of information even when we are not concentrating on them. I often do not notice there is anything printing on the laserwriter, until it jams. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Alistair Edwards Lecturer in Computer Science University of York, York, England YO1 5DD earn/bitnet: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk arpanet: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk internet: alistair%minster.york.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk usenet: ukc!minster!alistair phone: +44 904 432775 fax: +44 904 432767
zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Sameer Parekh) (06/20/91)
[Attract attention w/sounds] I agree. For some reason my computer (Apple //gs) emits a tone when it is idle and a different tone when it is doing calculations. Therefore, when I am doing a calculation intensive operation which will take a while, I can set it up, do something else meanwhile, and when I hear the pitch change, I know the job is done. -- The Ravings of the Insane Maniac Sameer Parekh -- zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM
sharp@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Maurice Sharp) (06/20/91)
There has been other work done for aural feedback in interfaces.
Some of the most succesful was done for the US Air Force. They found
that binaural sounds that came from particular places in the cockpit
were very useful for providing pilot feedback. I seem to remember a
slurping sound from under the seat for low fuel.
The 3D sound technology used is now becoming affordable. You can
already get some software/hardware for 3D sound a Macintosh.
The bottom line seems to be, the sound feedback is good in
specific tasks. To design general aural feedback would be like trying
to design a generic word processor. Most people would only use a
limited amount of the functionality. Worse, a lot of people would hate
the feedback, or think of the feedback as something else.
maurice
Maurice Sharp MSc. Student (403) 220 7690
University of Calgary Computer Science Department
2500 University Drive N.W. sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 GEnie M.SHARP5
--
Maurice Sharp MSc. Student (403) 220 7690
University of Calgary Computer Science Department
2500 University Drive N.W. sharp@cpsc.UCalgary.CA
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 GEnie M.SHARP5daryl@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Daryl P. Sawders) (06/22/91)
In article <1991Jun12.215523.7379@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >In <1991Jun12.202741.16629@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> kline@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Charley Kline) writes: STUFF DELETED HERE > >>For what it's worth, I installed "Findersounds" which is another >>thing that behaves as described, with all sorts of "appropriate" >>noises on window open, window close, drag, resize, scroll, select, >>and so on. > >>It was the most annoying thing I've ever seen for the Mac. I dragged >>it out of the System Folder after about ten minutes. > >That's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. STUFF DELETED HERE > > >The hardest part here is figuring out WHERE to use WHAT sounds >unintrusively. > >The best one I've thought of so far is the variable pitch "click" on >scrolling. It gives you a lot of information - whether you're going >up or down (from hearing two consecutive clicks and hearing the pitch >difference), how fast (useful for rate-scrolled windows), and how >close you are to each end (high or low pitch). Maybe even a quick >"thud" noise whe you reach the end. > >It has the potential to make the interface feel more real. >-- >Brian >brsmith@cs.umn.edu I like it ! especially the THUD when you hit bottom... I like the idea of different sounds for different operations but from what I've seen of SoundMaster it doesn't seem like there's enough discrimination between tasks... eg. I think you need a different effect for Copy-completed vs Move-completed vs Trashed. eg. some kind of whirring noise, kinda like you hear when there's some kind of conveyor belt running vs a scraping/dragging noise with the sound of a box hitting the floor vs the distinctive sound of a pop bottle hitting a metal trash can. When the work window is crowded it sometimes get confusing as to what just happened. To avoid the -annoyance factor- I think each sound would need to be tailorable as to speed and volume and you'd need some _easy_ way to disable sound cues (eg. Alt-S = toggle sound ) ?? Later, - Daryl - Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Audio feedback from GUI's Summary: Expires: References: <31228@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1991Jun12.202741.16629@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1991Jun12.215523.7379@cs.umn.edu> Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: The Zets on Ultrix @ UNIX.CIS.PITT.EDU Keywords: sound windows widgets In article <1991Jun12.215523.7379@cs.umn.edu> brsmith@cs.umn.edu (Brian R. Smith) writes: >In <1991Jun12.202741.16629@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> kline@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Charley Kline) writes: STUFF DELETED HERE > >>For what it's worth, I installed "Findersounds" which is another >>thing that behaves as described, with all sorts of "appropriate" >>noises on window open, window close, drag, resize, scroll, select, >>and so on. > >>It was the most annoying thing I've ever seen for the Mac. I dragged >>it out of the System Folder after about ten minutes. > >That's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. STUFF DELETED HERE > > >The hardest part here is figuring out WHERE to use WHAT sounds >unintrusively. > >The best one I've thought of so far is the variable pitch "click" on >scrolling. It gives you a lot of information - whether you're going >up or down (from hearing two consecutive clicks and hearing the pitch >difference), how fast (useful for rate-scrolled windows), and how >close you are to each end (high or low pitch). Maybe even a quick >"thud" noise whe you reach the end. > >It has the potential to make the interface feel more real. >-- >Brian >brsmith@cs.umn.edu I like it ! especially the THUD when you hit bottom... I like the idea of different sounds for different operations but from what I've seen of SoundMaster it doesn't seem like there's enough discrimination between tasks... eg. I think you need a different effect for Copy-completed vs Move-completed vs Trashed. eg. some kind of whirring noise, kinda like you hear when there's some kind of conveyor belt running vs a scraping/dragging noise with the sound of a box hitting the floor vs the distinctive sound of a pop bottle hitting a metal trash can. When the work window is crowded it sometimes get confusing as to what just happened. To avoid the -annoyance factor- I think each sound would need to be tailorable as to speed and volume and you'd need some _easy_ way to disable sound cues (eg. Alt-S = toggle sound ) ?? Later, - Daryl - Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Track ball on a keyboard? Summary: Expires: References: <1991Jun12.181324.12617@den.mmc.com> <YEE.91Jun12150700@pmin7.osf.org> <1991Jun12.202144.12527@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: The Zets on Ultrix @ UNIX.CIS.PITT.EDU Keywords:
kalman@yoyodyne.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Laura Kalman) (06/24/91)
Hi! I am currently working as the human factors/interface designer on a sonification software tool at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Historically NCSA tools have revolved around visualizing numerical data streams generated from large simulations, but because these simulations often generate more data sets than that which can be displayed via three dimensional images (height, width, color), we are trying to couple visualization with sonification. Basically, sonification is an attempt to provide interactive access to additional data dimensions through sound. It is sort of a novel approach to using sound in the sense that we have data that we need to "hear", we just don't know the best way to "play" it, (i.e. interactive mouse playback, continuous data stream playback), or the best way to create sound from it (i.e. sound mapping parameters which are intuitive but maintain data integrity). I have come up with a number of different ideas, ranging from simple mouse exploration to supplementing virtual reality simulations, but I am more than willing to open it up for general discussion. If contributing to this type of human factors/research application is something that appeals to general interest, I could post more specific details surrounding our immediate research goals and include a list of the current features for comments, concerns and criticisms. There are a vast number of human factors (sound perception of musical playback vs. everyday sound, etc), and interface issues surrounding this project and I would be more than happy to implement original suggestions, test user response, and post results to the net. NCSA is a not-for-profit organization which supplies scientists and industrial researchers with free software tools simply for the advancement of science. All the tools developed at NCSA are available public domain, therefore no one here will derive any direct financial benefit from contributed ideas. However, in all fairness I must warn any contributors that all source code is eventually made available through anonymous ftp to anyone with network access. As a result, I have no control over who might incorporate these ideas into future commercial packages, especially if they are brilliant ideas. On a more positive note, I will gladly and openly recognize any original contributions in the NCSA software release notes. I thought a practical exercise in the creative application of sound in a research environment might be interesting to explore as a group effort. Since a mojority of the issues surrounding the audible icons are also directly applicable to sonification, it seems that the theoretical complications for sound have already been lightly discussed. This might be a way to develop our theoretical discussion into tangible research results. I don't remember reading about any restrictions regarding this type of activity in the charter, but I thought I'd check it out with the "real life" readership before posting more details. So now that you know about me, let me know if this sort of ground level interface research/sound application appeals to you... Thanks for your time, Laura kalman@yoyodyne.ncsa.uiuc.edu