Space, the final frontearcon: The identification of concurrently presented earcons in a synthetic spatialized auditory environment

Abstract

Two experiments which investigate the impact of spatialised presentation on the identification of concurrently presented earcons are described. The first experiment compared the identification of concurrently presented earcons based on the guidelines for individual earcon design and presentation of Brewster, Wright and Edwards [1] which were presented in spatially distinct locations, to the identification of non-spatially presented earcons which incorporated guidelines for concurrent presentation from McGookin and Brewster [2]. It was found that a significant increase in earcon identification occurred, as well as an increase in earcon register identification when earcons were spatially presented. The second experiment compared the identification of concurrently presented earcons based on the guidelines of Brewster, Wright and Edwards [1] which were presented in spatially distinct locations, to the identification of spatially presented earcons which incorporated guidelines for the presentation of concurrent earcons from McGookin and Brewster [2]. The incorporation of the concurrent earcon guidelines was found to significantly increase identification of the timbre attribute but did not significantly effect the overall identification of earcons.