Audiocentric Interface Design: A Building Blocks Approach

The advent of mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous computing presents opportunities for audiocentric interfaces that use sound as the primary or only means of displaying information to users whose eyes are otherwise engaged. While interface designers have a wealth of technological capabilities at their disposal for capturing, storing, transmitting, and displaying sound, there is a lack of appropriate resources to inform and inspire the design of compelling new audiocentric interfaces. This paper presents work towards developing guidelines for audio interface designers by developing a suite of interface “building blocks:” common interface elements that can be incorporated into the design of complex interfaces. Several audio progress meters and experiments in directing user focus in a spatialized audio environment are discussed.