The use of sound as interactive feedback in computing has been relatively underused compared to applications and investigations using other senses such as vision. Despite this, sound is a powerful medium that has multiple applications in interactive digital products, including information systems, toys, cell phones, tablets, and desktop computers. Sound can be used to alert users in the form of auditory alarms. For example, a digital agenda on a cell phone could alert users about upcoming meetings by playing a distinctive tone. Sound can also support or supplement other senses. For instance, text-to-speech technology is invaluable to visually impaired users for supplementing text reading, or when users wish to perform tasks with other senses without being distracted, such as listening to auditory feedback from a global positioning system (GPS) while driving.
Sound can also serve to help users discern meaningful information. For example, a sonification system can convert stock exchange data to auditory parameters, such as pitch variations. This could allow users to identify information patterns or trends through the cocktail party effect, that is, by focusing on one particular sound from a repertoire. In addition, musical sounds can motivate people and enhance their mood, among other applications in digital products. Auditory dimensions such as loudness, spatiality, timbre, and pitch can be exploited to convey useful information through computer interfaces on a variety of digital products. However, to be successfully used, auditory interfaces should be carefully designed and tested.
This book provides a valuable and technically solid collection of chapters written by top auditory display and computer science specialists from academic institutions and research areas worldwide. The content provides insight into the latest research and applications of the still-emerging field of sonic interaction design (SID), which studies the exploitation of sound at the computer interface to convey meaningful information with technical, emotional, and aesthetic components. Topics include interaction design, perceptual aspects of sound, multimodal interfaces, multisensory experiences, affective computing and sound, sonification (rendition of data into sound dimensions), sound in mixed and virtual realities, and rhythmic interaction, among others. The book also includes case studies showing both theoretical and technical approaches for auditory design and its application within the SID field.
Chapter 13 (“Sonification of the Human EEG”), written by Thomas Hermann and Gerold Baier, is one of the most interesting and intriguing chapters in the book. It describes techniques and examples of the sonification of electroencephalogram (EEG) data, with the objective of understanding electric brain activity and uncovering patterns and trends in EEG data, and thus helping physicians diagnose neurological disorders. One of these EEG sonification techniques maps frequency and amplitude of brain waves to pitch variations of tone streams. According to some examples provided by the authors, the resulting sonifications of some EEGs sound quite melodic, and if trained personnel listen carefully, it is possible to differentiate the EEG of a brain of a healthy person from that of a person with epilepsy.
The book will surely help advance research and applications related to the design and development of auditory interfaces. Most of the chapters will interest scholars and students in the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI), usability, human factors, and other related subjects who wish to know more about the latest research on the thought-provoking and fascinating field of SID.
