The Shannon Portal: Designing an Auditory Display for Casual Users in a Public Environment

Abstract

We developed an installation for a public environment and casual users where auditory display was a significant element to facilitate user interaction. We used an iterative design process, starting from simple onomatopoeic representations, to complex sound object models in Pure Data. The system was evaluated at each stage, from the lab to the final public setting. The problems addressed covered the representations of left-right, up-down, and the amount of movement by the user or groups of users. In addition to this, it was important that the auditory display would attract attention when users were within control range of the system, i.e. an affordance that invited and allowed users to discover functionality.