Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!cunixb.cc.columbia.edu!mig
From: mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Audio feedback from GUI's
Keywords: sound windows widgets
Message-ID: <1991Jun12.190345.515@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 12 Jun 91 19:03:45 GMT
References: <1991Jun12.171211.2716@cs.umn.edu>
Sender: usenet@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Network News)
Reply-To: mig@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Meir)
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 55
Nntp-Posting-Host: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu

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