Spatial Auditory Interface for Word Processing Application

In this paper we evaluate two different auditory interfaces for word processing application. The interfaces are in the form of hierarchical menu structures and use spatial sounds in two different spatial configurations. The first menu - AH - has a ring shaped horizontal configuration of the sound sources, whereas the second - AV - has a vertical configuration of the sound sources. Spatial sounds are used to increase the information flow between the user and the application. In this way, multiple sources (i.e. menu commands) can be played and perceived simultaneously. The main goal of the experiment was to choose the most efficient interface based on a user study with 16 test subjects. The test subjects were asked to perform five different tasks with two auditory interfaces and a normal visual GUI. The variables observed in the user study were: task completion times, navigation performance and various subjective evaluations. The AV interface proved to be the most efficient and user friendly and will therefore be used in further experiments.