[real-eyes] Audio Menus for iPods
- From: "Jim Fettgather" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 21:17:29 -0500
>>Technology Review
>>Tuesday, May 08, 2007
>
>>Audio Menus for iPods
>
>>By Kate Greene
>
>>LINK: Download an MP3 version of this story
>>http://www.audiodizer.com/technologyreview/infotech/download.aspx?id=18
>
>>703 Researchers are testing ways to let people listen to gadget menu
>>options
>>instead of looking at them.
>
>>Clicking through the menu on your iPod demands a significant
>amount of
>>visual attention, which can be a hassle (while jogging) and even
>dangerous
>>(while driving). But engineers at the University of Toronto and
>Microsoft
>>Research are working on software that could make it possible to
>navigate
>>the menus of gadgets that use circular touch pads, like the iPod,
>without
>>looking at them--only audio cues would be used.
>>
>>The researchers have designed an auditory menu technique--called
>>earPod--that provides audio feedback when a person drags his or
>her finger
>>around the touch pad. Although it's not ready to replace the
>expansive
>>menus on real iPods, the results are encouraging, says Patrick
>Baudisch, a
>>research scientist at Microsoft Research, in Seattle, who worked
>on the
>>project.
>>
>>LINK:
>>http://www.patrickbaudisch.com/
>>
>>Within 30 minutes of beginning to use the technology, people can
>>navigate
>>two levels of earPod menus faster than traditional visual menus,
>and just
>>as accurately.
>>
>>"Requiring constant visual attention while using a PC is
>reasonable,"
>>says
>>Baudisch, "but if you're using an iPod on the road, [constant
>visual
>>attention] is unreasonable." In addition to giving people back
>their eyes,
>>he says, audio menus could help gadgets save battery life by not
>wasting
>>energy on a screen, and they could add functions to the
>screen-free
>>devices such as the iPod shuffle.
>>
>>The idea of using audio menus isn't new. Auditory interfaces can,
>after
>>all, be found in touch-tone phone menus and in various assisted
>>technologies for seeing-impaired users. But historically, handheld
>
>>consumer gadgets haven't widely used audio menus. There are a few
>reasons
>>for this, says Bruce Walker, professor in the school of psychology
>and
>>college of computing at Georgia Institute of Technology.
>>
>>LINK:
>>http://sonify.psych.gatech.edu/~walkerb/
>>
>>One reason, he says, is that audio hardware and software have
>been
>>resource intensive, requiring significant amounts of computation
>and
>>energy. In addition, audio software has been difficult to
>program.
>>
>>But computing power is becoming cheaper, and there is an
>increasing
>>need
>>to find different ways to interact with handheld devices, says
>Walker.
>>Within the past 10 years, he says, the ubiquity of mobile devices
>with
>>small displays "has made us all visually impaired." Currently
>there are
>>only a handful of researchers who are systematically looking at
>ways to
>>make better audio interfaces for various devices, but Walker
>expects the
>>ranks to grow in the coming years.
>>
>>This first earPod prototype has a two-level menu hierarchy with 8
>items
>>per category, for a total of 64 items. To test how well people use
>the
>>system, the researchers assigned to the first menu level a random
>
>>assortment of categories: "clothing," "fish," "instrument,"
>"color," and
>>four others. The next level contained eight examples of these
>items. The
>>iPod analogy would be found in the opening menu, which includes
>"music,"
>>"extras," "settings," and then lower menus that include
>"playlists,"
>>"artists," and "albums," for instance. The earPod approach could
>be
>>extended to read off a limited number of names of artists and
>songs as
>well.
>>
>>EarPod was designed specifically for gadgets with circular touch
>pads,
>>says Baudisch. The circular touch pad is evenly divided into eight
>
>>sectors: it's cut like pieces of a pie, with each menu item
>associated
>>with each piece. When a person touches the dial of an
>earPod-equipped
>>gadget, the audio menu responds with a prerecorded human voice. If
>a
>>person puts his or her finger at 12 o'clock on the touch pad, the
>voice
>>might say "Color," indicating that the finger is on the color
>sector. When
>>the finger crosses one of these invisible sector lines, the user
>hears a
>>clicking sound. As a finger moves, a new menu item is announced.
>To select
>>an item and go to the next menu level, the user lifts his or her
>finger
>>and hears a "camera-shutter" sound, which indicates that an item
>has been
>>chosen.
>>
>>Because the touch pad is divided into portions, says Baudisch,
>people
>>can
>>easily learn where menu items are and quickly jump to certain
>items
>>without having to scroll through a list, as with an iPod. Another
>feature
>>of earPod, he says, is that a user doesn't need to wait until a
>menu item
>>is read before moving on to another. When a finger moves to a new
>sector,
>>the audio is interrupted and the new item is announced.
>>
>>In the earPod usability study, conducted by Shengdong Zhao, a
>doctoral
>>student at the University of Toronto, and project lead, the
>researchers
>>found that people who had no experience using either an iPod or an
>
>>earPod-equipped device used the devices with equal accuracy.
>EarPod was
>>92.1 percent accurate, while the visual system was 93.9 percent
>accurate,
>>but the difference was not statistically significant. It took
>people
>>longer to grow accustomed to earPod, but with experience, users'
>>performance on the audio menu became faster. After 30 minutes of
>training
>>on both devices, subjects could navigate two levels of menu with
>earPod in
>>2.1 seconds as opposed to 2.5 seconds with the visual menu.
>>
>>Georgia Tech's Walker is impressed with the earPod approach and
>>results.
>>"My overall impression is that this is great ... It was
>inevitable: trying
>>to look at how to take an interface that is purely visual on the
>iPod and
>>turn it into an interface that's purely auditory, because, after
>all, the
>>iPod's an auditory device. Why should a person have to pull their
>player
>>out while they're jogging to look at it?"
>>
>>Currently, however, earPod could not be a complete replacement for
>an
>>iPod
>>menu, Walker notes. One reason is that earPod doesn't lend itself
>to menu
>>flexibility. Once a person learns the position of the menu items,
>he or
>>she might become frustrated if those positions need to change due
>to a
>>software update or added playlist. In particular, the approach
>would not
>>work well for menus such as mobile-phone address books, Walker
>says.
>>
>>In addition, adds Baudisch, because the circular track pad is
>divided
>>into
>>sectors, there are a limited number of menu items that a person
>can
>>access. If there are 8 sectors, each with 8 menu items, then there
>are
>>only 64 total items accessible on the device, and this wouldn't be
>good
>>enough for iPods that hold hundreds of playlists and thousands of
>songs.
>>However, Baudisch suspects that future prototypes will provide
>ways to get
>>around the problem. He and his team are exploring how people
>respond to
>>faster audio output (speeding up the recorded voice) and how
>people use
>>audio and visual cues simultaneously. Developing an
>all-encompassing
>>interface for eyes-free operations on auditory devices is still a
>future
>>project, he says.
>>
>>
>>http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18703/
>>
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