Navigating a Spatialized Speech Environment Through Simultaneous Listening within a Hallway Metaphor

This thesis presents a system for browsing and navigating a database of recorded speech. It uses a spatialized audio environment, taking advantage of the human ability of simultaneous listening. A browsing environment is provided in the form of a virtual acoustic hallway. The user hears several audio recordings simultaneously; each stream of audio is of a specific topic coming from several "virtual" doors along the hallway. The user's head position in real space controls the rate of movement past the doors and the subsequent playing of the audio recordings. Behind each door is heard a "Braided Audio" collage of related news stories. Listening to an individual news recording for a given topic is accomplished in "Audio Rooms" through a new method of selection and representation based on the metaphor of a "FishEye" lens. Thesis Supervisor: Christopher Schrnandt Title: Principal Research Scientist Thesis Committee _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --Thesis Advisor Christopher ~ c h m a n d t Principal Research Scientist MIT Media Laboratory Thesis Reader1 L-, q HHiroshi Ishii Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences MIT Media Laboratory Thesis ReaderMichael Hawley Assistant Professor of ' eLjfa Arts and sciences %IT Media Laboratory