Sonic Browsing: an auditory tool for multimedia asset management

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP), 2005

Tap, 2005

In the original Fernström and McNamara paper at ICAD 1998 we described our work on a novel user interface for sonic browsing of music collections. In this commentary we reflect upon the continued research in this area and how our interactive sonification approach has come to be used also for browsing collections of everyday sounds and for perception experiments.

1997

Dynomite is a portable electronic notebook for the capture and retrieval of handwritten and audio notes. The goal of Dynomite is to merge the organization, search, and data acquisition capabilities of a computer with the benefits of a paper-based notebook. Dynomite provides novel solutions in four key problem areas. First, Dynomite uses a casual, low cognitive overhead interface. Second, for content indexing of notes, Dynomite uses ink properties and keywords. Third, to assist organization, Dynomite's properties and keywords define views, presenting a subset of the notebook content that dynamically changes as users add new information. Finally, to augment handwritten notes with audio on devices with limited storage, Dynomite continuously records audio, but only permanently stores those parts highlighted by the user.

QPSR of the numediart …, 2009

The MediaCycle project, as part of numediart's HyForge research axis, aims at developing a novel browsing environment for multimedia (sound, images, videos) databases, that offers an alternative to conventional search-by-query. The databases are organized so that users can conveniently retrieve the items that they need. This project is an extension of the software developed in Au-dioCycle (numediart #4.1), from sound to images. Extensions to video databases will be investigated in upcoming projects.

Human-Computer Interaction, 1989

The appropriate use of non-speech sounds has the potential to add a great deal to the functionality of computer interfaces. Sound is a largely unexploited medium of output, even though it plays an integral role in our everyday encounters with the world, one that is complementary to vision. I argue that sound should be used in computers as it is in the world, where it conveys information about the nature of sound-producing events. Such a strategy leads to auditory icons, which are everyday sounds meant to convey information about computer events by analogy with everyday events. Auditory icons are an intuitively accessible way to use sound to provide multidimensional, organized information to users.

1998

We present several studies that investigate how people use audio documents and uncover new principles for designing audio navigation technology. In particular, we report on an ethnographic study of voicemail users, experimental studies of human voicemail processing and the design of a new structural browser that embodies principles learned from the forementioned empirical studies. Specifically, our studies show that the reinforcement of audio memory and appropriate definition of content-based playback units are important properties of interfaces suited to human audio processing behaviors.