Understanding concurrent earcons: applying auditory scene analysis principles to concurrent earcon recognition

McGookin, D.K. and Brewster, S.A. (2004) Understanding concurrent earcons: applying auditory scene analysis principles to concurrent earcon recognition. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 1(2), pp. 130-155. (doi: 10.1145/1024083.1024087)

Abstract

Two investigations into the identification of concurrently presented, structured sounds, called earcons were carried out. One of the experiments investigated how varying the number of concurrently presented earcons affected their identification. It was found that varying the number had a significant effect on the proportion of earcons identified. Reducing the number of concurrently presented earcons lead to a general increase in the proportion of presented earcons successfully identified. The second experiment investigated how modifying the earcons and their presentation, using techniques influenced by auditory scene analysis, affected earcon identification. It was found that both modifying the earcons such that each was presented with a unique timbre, and altering their presentation such that there was a 300 ms onset-to-onset time delay between each earcon were found to significantly increase identification. Guidelines were drawn from this work to assist future interface designers when incorporating concurrently presented earcons.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McGookin, Dr David and Brewster, Professor Stephen
• Authors: McGookin, D.K., and Brewster, S.A.
• Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: ACM Transactions on Applied Perception
• Publisher: ACM Press
• ISSN: 1544-3558
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2004 ACM Press
• First Published: First published in ACM Transactions on Applied Perception 1(2):130-155
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher