Mapping Auditory Cues to an Organized Structure

摘要

This paper examines the appropriateness of mapping auditory cues to an organized structure with the intention of using those cues as feedback when navigating a web-based search structure. The use of both a linear and hierarchical structure was investigated. Sounds were developed for this task and tested against sounds that had been proven effective in mapping to a structure, but were deemed inappropriate for a web search application due to length. Data from 47 subjects were analyzed to assess people's ability to accurately map sounds to nodes within structures. The results indicate the pleasantness of the new, shorter sounds was rated higher than the baseline sounds, but they were about half as successful at accurately mapping the sounds to the nodes. Subjects were able to map the new sounds with reasonable accuracy within two nodes of the target. The hierarchical structure resulted in better performance than the linear structure with either sound set. This research suggests that mapping sound feedback to a web-based search structure could provide a meaningful navigation cue.