Mapping Candidate Within-Vehicle Auditory Displays to Their Referents

Auditory displays and warnings must be appropriately urgent and command fast response times. A semiotic analysis suggests that displays, as signals interpreted by users, should also be mapped successfully onto their referents. This study investigated speech, auditory icons (natural or synthetic sounds with specific meanings), environmental sounds (naturally occurring sounds with arbitrary meanings), and abstract synthetic warnings as candidates for within-vehicle interfaces. Response times and accuracy were recorded in a computer task of identifying learned mappings of candidate displays to a range of referent driving events (such as "headway closing"); perceived urgency and pleasantness were assessed separately. Results showed that speech and auditory icons produced near-ceiling performance in response times and identification accuracy. Abstract sounds produced notably slower response times and less accuracy. Environmental sounds showed an intermediate pattern of performance for accuracy, but the response times were similar to those of the abstract sounds. Speech utterances were similarly and consistently rated as pleasant but also of intermediate perceived urgency. The three other sound types showed a consistent mapping of their perceived urgency to the situational urgency of their referents; perceived urgency and pleasantness were negatively correlated for these sounds.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1329271
• Authors:
  • McKeown, Denis
  • Isherwood, Sarah
• Publication Date: 2007-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 417-428
• Serial:
  • Human Factors
  • Volume: 49
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0018-7208
  • EISSN: 1547-8181
  • Serial URL: http://hfs.sagepub.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Audible warning devices in vehicles; Driver information systems; Driver vehicle interfaces; Drivers; Driving; Human factors engineering; Mapping; Reaction time; Sound
• Uncontrolled Terms: Referents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01053668
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 8 2007 3:21PM