Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Menu Sonification in an Automotive Media
Center: Design and Evaluation
8.1. General context
The automobile needs to transmit to its driver, and its occupants, a certain
amount of information relative to driving and the use of life systems on board (aid
with navigation via GPS or radio, for example). The passenger compartment of the
car thus becomes an increasingly demanding environment in terms of sensory
attention; as Ho and Spence write in the introduction of [HO 08]: “ the act of driving
represents a highly complex skill requiring the sustained monitoring of integrated
perceptual and cognitive inputs ”.
Information is most often presented in a visual form, with the help of signals and
display boards on which texts and graphics appear. The auditory modality is also
mobilized when it is advantageous compared to the visual mode. This is particularly
the case when the driver gets out of the vehicle and has therefore little chance to
look at the instrument panel (the sound warning “forgotten light” is part of this
category). Another example is when an important message - which will require a
rapid reaction from the driver - appears on a display: the sound then attracts the
gaze towards the visual (the sound alarm “door open while moving” corresponds to
this scenario). On this subject, it is interesting to note that the reaction to a visual
prompt (reaction time of around a second) is globally greater than that caused by an
auditory prompt. The automobile constructor nonetheless tries not to overload the
passenger compartment with sound alarms, as sound in contrast to sight, is harder to
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