Keywords:
auditory interfaces, speech interfaces, multimodal interfaces, sound, acoustic
displays, sonification, auditory perception
Topic
A workshop entitled The Future of Speech and Audio in the Interface [1] was held at CHI '94 with the goal
of further defining the emerging area of sound in user interfaces and applications, and exploring
applications, research areas, and interaction techniques that use audio in the interface. The focus of the
workshop was on the "CHI perspective" of using speech and sound to exploit the audio channel for the
user's benefit. This SIG is designed as a follow-on to that workshop; the focus of the workshop will provide
the focus for this session as well.
Issues
During the discussions at last year's workshop a number of relevant issues were raised. We have chosen
some of these as topics for further discussion this year, including:
- How should speech interfaces handle the problem of "What can I say?"
- How can music, symbolic sounds, and everyday sounds be combined in an interface?
- When should sound be used instead of graphics?
- What is the best way to integrate speech, non-speech and graphics an a user interface?
This session should be of interest both to practitioners in the field and to those unfamiliar with the topic
who are interested in learning more about incorporating speech and/or non-speech audio into an interface.
Format
The SIG will be structured as informal discussions, moderated by the session leaders. Informative hand-
outs will be available for those that are new to the field. Compiled meeting notes will be made available to
SIG attendees following the conference.
References
1. B. Arons and E. Mynatt, The Future of Speech and Audio in the Interface, SIGCHI Bulletin,
26, 4, pp. 44-48, October, 1994.
