Effectiveness of Three-Dimensional Auditory Directional Cues

Abstract

Natural aural directional cueing in the cockpit should relieve the demands placed on the visual modality, reduce display clutter and alleviate cognitive attention needed to process and extract meaning from coded formats. This experiment compared the effectiveness of three-dimensional (3-D) auditory cues to conventional visual and auditory methods of directing visual attention to peripheral targets. Five directional cues were evaluated: visual symbol, coded aural tone, speech cue, 3-D tone (white noise appearing to emanate from peripheral locations) and 3-D speech (speech cue appearing to emanate from peripheral locations). The results showed significant performance differences as a function of directional cue type in peripheral target task completion time, as well as eye and head reaction time. Results, such as these, will help improve the application of directional sound in operational cockpits.

Three-Dimensional Auditory Display for Enhancing Detection of Passive Sonar Signals

“…The finding that a 3-D auditory display led to improved user performance is in general agreement with the results of previous investigators (Arrabito et al, 2001;Begault, 1993;Begault & Erbe, 1994;Bronkhorst et al, 1996;Calhoun et al, 1987Calhoun et al, , 1988. For example, in a visual search task Begault (1993) evaluated a "head-up" spatial auditory air traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) in a flight simulator.…”

“…The headphone presentation of a sound that is convolved with the time domain representation of a head-related transfer function (HRTF) -the digital filter used for the spatial synthesis -is perceived by the listener to emanate from outside his or her head at the location for which the HRTF was measured (Bronkhorst, 1995;Møller, Sørensen, Hammershøi, & Jensen, 1995;Wightman & Kistler, 1989b). This technology has led to improved operator performance in a variety of applications, such as auditory alarms in aircraft cockpits (Calhoun, Janson, & Valencia, 1988;Calhoun, Valencia, & Furness, 1987), visual search tasks (Begault,1993;Bronkhorst, Veltman, & van Breda, 1996), release from masking (Doll et al,1992), and speech intelligibility (Arrabito, McFadden, & Crabtree, 2001;Begault & Erbe, 1994). Although Doll et al (1992) found that the largest MLD was obtained when the signal was spatially separated from the masker in a simulated sonar task, the efficacy of a 3-D auditory display cannot be assessed for the problem under consideration because the sounds were not presented in virtual auditory space.…”

Auditory warnings, signal-referent relations, and natural indicators: Re-thinking theory and application.

“…Apart from the fact that reaction times to auditory stimuli are typically faster than to visual stimuli (e.g., Galton, 1899; Sanders, 1998; Woodworth & Schlosberg, 1954), sound is often the most effective medium for conveying information. Auditory signals can be attention-grabbing regardless of the operator's visual focus, accommodating operator mobility, allowing events both inside and outside the operator's field of view to be monitored (Burt, Bartolome, Burdette, & Comstock, 1995; Calhoun, Janson, & Valencia, 1988; Doll & Folds, 1986; Edworthy & Adams, 1996; Edworthy & Stanton, 1995; Gaver, 1989; Haas & Casali, 1995; McKinley & Ericson, 1997; Stokes & Wickens, 1988; Szalma et al, 2004). Furthermore, some dynamically changing events (e.g., approaching automobiles) are more readily represented in auditory than in visual displays (Gaver, 1989, 1993).…”

Cough Once for Danger: Icons Versus Abstract Warnings as Informative Alerts in Civil Aviation

“…Auditory icons or caricatures of everyday sounds (Belz, Robinson, & Casali, 1999;Calhoun, Janson, & Valencia, 1988;Gaver, 1989Gaver, , 1993Graham, 1999;Ho & Spence, 2005) circumvent a number of the problems associated with abstract alarms as they involve a relation between a signal and referent -for example, the sound of coughing to signal dangerous levels of gas. Auditory icons can be short, are not easily masked, and are generally recognizable and distinguishable (Keller & Cough Once for Danger: Icons Versus Abstract Warnings as Informative Alerts in Civil Aviation Nathan C. Perry, Catherine J. Stevens, Mark W. Wiggins, and Clare E. Howell, University of Western Sydney-Bankstown, South Penrith, Australia…”