3D audio in human-computer interfaces

Auditory interfaces present information with different types of sounds. They can complement visual interfaces or in some cases represent an independent input or output interface to a selected device. This paper focuses on a special group of auditory interfaces using spatial sound for the representation of information. The addition of information on the location of a selected sound source or a group of sources shows many advantages over a mere single-channel audio. Spatial auditory interfaces have evolved significantly in the last couple of years and can be found in a variety of environments where visual communication is obstructed or completely blocked by other activities, such as walking, driving, flying, operating multimodal virtual displays, etc. In this paper we briefly summarize our research activities in this area. We focus on spatial auditory interfaces in vehicles and on interfaces for visually impaired and blind computer users.