Structured menu presentation using spatial sound separation

Abstract

This paper describes a technique to support user interaction in a hierarchical menu, based on spatial sound separation. A complex menu structure is represented in space using a limited number of sound positions obtained by stereo panning or 3-D audio processing techniques. Spatial organisation of menu items can be designed in a logical way to provide navigation cues to the user, independent of the menu item nature. Two different strategies for menu presentation and interaction are described and compared in this paper. Finally, an application of this technique to the navigation in a large music collection is considered. This case study is an interesting example of usage situation for which eyes-free interaction would be useful, for instance on a portable audio player using headphones and a small remote control.