Nomadic radio: a spatialized audio environment for wearable computing

This paper describes an on-going research project at the MIT Media Lab, exploring the use of auditory I/O as a primary interaction modality for wearable computing. Nomadic Radio is a framework developed for use on a wearable audio platform. It presents timely information and permits communication within a spatialized audio environment. The contextual state of the user indicated by time of day, physical positioning, scheduled tasks, and message content, is used to model information presented in the user´s listening space. We are evaluating techniques for the design of spatial audio streams, speech I/O, and auditory cues in the interface. Issues related to asynchronous communication and peripheral awareness are also being considered.