2. Some from Heim Chap 13 Sound The sound files are not included– most should work on windows 7 machines you tube

3. Learning outcomes Describe the basics of human hearing Explain the difference between visual and auditory interaction Describe the classes and subclasses of sound output and the attributes of each Describe the classes and subclass of sound input and recognition and attributes of each 2

4. the human 1 3 Hearing Provides information about environment: distances, directions, objects etc. Physical apparatus: outer ear– protects inner and amplifies sound middle ear– transmits sound waves as vibrations to inner ear inner ear– chemical transmitters are released and cause impulses in auditory nerve Sound pitch– sound frequency loudness – amplitude timbre– type or quality

5. the human 1 4 Hearing (cont) Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz to 15kHz less accurate distinguishing high frequencies than low. Higher frequencies disappear as you get older Auditory system filters sounds can attend to sounds over background noise. for example, the cocktail party phenomenon. Hearing aids disrupt this filtering

6. the human 1 5 What if…. You are in a noisy environment Night clubbing Phone call/ text message? Your hearing is below average You are deaf

7. Sound versus Visual Sound exists in time and over space, vision exists in space and over time. (Gaver, 1989) -Sound is only there when it is playing/made -Vision is there until it is replaced 6

8. Sound Interaction Computer Output/Generation (Human Input) Non speech Music Audio Icons and Earcons Speech Computer Input/Recognition Speech Non speech Environmental Music 7

9. Computer Output: Music Can be pre-recorded or generated Movies Games Immersive experiences 8

10. Generating music Exciting area for artists Everything from pseudo real to completely abstract There are Jazz music generators that only skilled people can differentiate from actual musicians. Serato – dj software (www.serato.com) Auckland company doing fantastic things Several UOA grads there 9

11. Auditory Icons and Earcons The difference between these two is subtle ‘Natural’ sounds ‘Artificial’ sounds (generated) Windows hardware fail insert remove 10

12. Auditory Icons and Earcons Redundant Encoding It aids memory by adding additional associations. Can alert without interrupting An alterative communications channel. Positive/Negative Feedback Auditory alarms might be crucial to the safe operation of computer-operated machinery or mission-critical environments Too many alarms Annoying Ignored 11

13. Using Sound in Interaction Design Learnability of the mapping between the icon and the object represented “Oink” and “bow wow” have high articulatory directness A swishing sound accompanying a paintbrush tool also has high articulatory directness A system beep carries is an abstract representation 12

14. Innate human understanding Volume Whisper Shout Pitch Baby crying Reassurance Authoritative Rhythm Urgency Mood Length Start, stop, duration 13

15. Can you remember earcons? How many? How often do you hear them? Can you intuitively tell what these mean? OnSleepOff Mis- recognized Dis- ambiguate 14

16. Speech Output Eyes free operation Alternative output channel Good for checking your essays Navigation is hard Back tracking, Finding location of particular thing 15

17. Speech Output Recorded Menu choices for telephone systems Books or other multimedia experiences Generated Good voice synthesisers built in to op systems Windows navigator Can give pronunciation rules Still sound a little artificial 16

18. Sound Input Speech Environmental Music 17

19. Speech Recognition Two distinct applications: Transaction Transcription Transaction Telephone menu systems Choose from a limited number of options, works ok Automatic speech recognition (ASR) Built into operating systems Siri (iPhone) and Android are ~~ usable This is a triumph of Artificial Intelligence Very difficult, ongoing research problem 18

20. Searching Speech and Audio Sound files do not afford easy opportunities for indexing and searching Speech translation can be used to transcribe speech files and create transcripts that can be searched like any other text file So long as recognition accuracy is ok, which it isn't at the moment Tune identification apps hum a bit of the tune and it tells you what it is! Easier than translation 19

21. Summary Describe the basics of human hearing Explain the difference between visual and auditory interaction Sound is transitory Describe the classes and subclasses of sound output and the attributes of each Non speech Music Earcons Speech Describe the classes and subclass of sound input and recognition and attributes of each Speech Transaction Transcription Sound is more complex than colour/light 20