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Gaver, W. W. (1986). Auditory icons: Using sound in computer interfaces. Human-computer Interaction, 2, 167–177. 
Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard (22/02/2006, 14:03)   Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard (08/01/2008, 08:51)
Resource type: Journal Article
ID no. (ISBN etc.): 0737-0024
BibTeX citation key: Gaver1986
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Categories: Semiology, Sound Design, Typologies/Taxonomies
Keywords: Earcons & Auditory Icons, Semantic categorization, Symbolism
Creators: Gaver
Collection: Human-computer Interaction
Resources citing this (Bibliography: WIKINDX Master Bibliography)
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Notes

Some useful ideas on using the properties of sound to convey information/ discussion of the pros and cons of artificial sound as symbols (or artificially manipulating sound's physical properties) as symbols and natural sound as icons.

Compare with Blattner et al.'.'s musical motivic approach to earcon design (Blattner, Sumikawa, & Greenberg 1989).

s musical motivic approach to earcon design (Blattner, Sumikawa, & Greenberg 1989).

Gaver's ideas are usefully critiqued by Familant (1993) & Detweiler.



Blattner, M. M., Sumikawa, D. A., & Greenberg, R. M. (1989). Earcons and icons: Their structure and common design principles. Human-computer Interaction, 4, 11–44.
Familant, M. E., & Detweiler, M. C. (1993). Iconic reference: Evolving perspectives and an organizing framework. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 39(5), 705–728.
Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard  Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Quotes
p.168   "an auditory icon is a sound that provides information about an event that represents desired data. Instead of using dimensions of sound to stand for dimensions of the data, dimensions of the sound's source are used"   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keywords:   Earcons & Auditory Icons
p.170   Metonymic auditory icons are those "in which a feature is used to represent the whole"   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keywords:   Earcons & Auditory Icons
p.171   "...Wagner's "Leitmotifs" and the use of sound in video games such as Pac Man, use metaphors based on similarities between the temporal progressions of the sounds and the events they are to represent. Other examples, such as the use of changing pitch to stand for changing heights, involve the use of a dimensional metaphor, in which one ordered dimension is used to represent another."   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
p.172   Manipulating parameters of the sound itself such as pitch and loudness (what are termed proximal stimuli), forces mappings between data and representation "to be either arbitrary or, at best, metaphorical. A nomic mapping can only be produced by manipulating the sound in terms of its source -- by using natural sounds." Although such sounds may of course be symbolic or metaphorical, "natural sounds should make possible a higher degree of articulatory directness than manipulating dimensions of the sound itself."   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
p.176   "Auditory icons provide a natural and intuitive way to represent dimensional data and to represent conceptual objects in a computer system."   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keywords:   Earcons & Auditory Icons
Paraphrases
pp.170–171   Gaver identifies three mappings between data and its representation which he applies to sound:

  1. symbolic -- arbitrary mapping
  2. Metaphoric -- similarities between data and representation which may be structure-mapped (structural similarities) or metonymic.
  3. Nomic -- direct relationship between representation of the sound source and sound. Gavin terms these types of sound auditory icons.
  Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keywords:   Semantic categorization
p.172   Discusses the notion of articulatory directness which is the continuum on which symbolic (least), metaphoric and nomic (most) stand.   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
p.173   Having suggested that nomic sounds have greater articulatory directness than symbolic, Gavin warns that culturally-ingrained symbolic sounds are just as powerfully representative and should not be discarded as useless.   Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
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