Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24-7 - 4

High Time for Temporal Variation:
Improving Sonic Interaction
with Auditory Interfaces
Liam Foley and Michael Schutz
L
istening is a powerful, under-appreciated, mechanism
for acquiring information about the world. Changes
in the hum of a car engine can offer an early clue about
potential problems; the rustle of leaves informs us of weather
conditions even before checking the forecast; slight fluctuations
in the sound of a kettle tell us the water is almost boiled.
These are but a few examples of important sonic interactions
we have with our environment throughout the day.
Use of Electronic Auditory Interfaces
For much of our species' evolutionary history, sounds came
from physical events such as rocks dropping, animals howling,
or thunder clapping. Today our sonic interactions come
increasingly through electronic devices such as smartphones,
smart home devices, and wearable technology. When designing
consumer interfaces in a competitive market, ergonomics
plays a crucial role, which has given rise to an entire industry
devoted to exploring innovative approaches for building
products. Although designers spend a great deal of time and
attention to the specific shapes and colors used in visual interfaces,
less attention and care has been given to the specific
sounds used in auditory interfaces [1].
Auditory interfaces have a vital role in human computer interactions,
particularly in fast-moving and high consequence
situations where users need to devote visual attention elsewhere.
Unfortunately, as human factors appear relatively
under-considered in their design, problems with their use are
widespread-particularly in areas outside the scope of consumer-facing
industries (mobile phones, web design, etc.). For
example, their shortcomings are widely recognized in contexts
ranging from medical devices [2] to transportation systems [3],
[4] and monitors related to industrial processing [5]. In many
cases, these issues trace back to problems with the specific
types of sounds used.
Issues with Human Perception of Alarms
The most widely known auditory interfaces are auditory
alarms, a critically important form of human-computer
interaction designed for rapidly attracting attention to
4
time-sensitive signals. Unfortunately, examples of problems
with alarms are well documented across many industries [6].
For example, alarms are known to be problematic in aviation
[4]-a field where visual attention is needed for tasks beyond
monitoring notification systems. Perceptual problems such as
inattentional deafness, when an alarm sounds but is not heard,
can result in dangerous outcomes for aircraft pilots [7]. With
environments ever increasing in complexity and dynamicity,
the number of alarms triggered in each of these interfaces
increases regularly. These increases have been reported in processing
(nuclear plants, refineries and chemical plants) [5]
and railway industries [3], among others. As healthcare is the
domain in which these issues are documented the most extensively,
we will summarize some key findings related to
medical device sounds, offering useful insight pertinent to auditory
alarms across many domains.
Healthcare Alarms as a Case Study
Problems with the alarms used in healthcare are numerous
and have been extensively researched and widely discussed
[8]. Consequently, we will focus on issues that can benefit the
most from using more sophisticated sounds. One such issue is
alarm fatigue, a general desensitization to alarms felt by hospital
staff as a result of repeated exposure [2]. This can be partly
attributed to the high alarm rates in hospitals, with reports of
over three hundred alarms per patient per day [9]. Unfortunately,
reducing the number of alarms is neither simple nor
ideal. Given the high consequences of failure, devices typically
employ a " better safe than sorry " approach-with liberal criteria
for alarming to ensure potentially important information
is broadcasted [10]. Additionally, many devices sound continually,
not just when a dangerous threshold is reached, adding
more sound to an already crowded sonic environment [9].
Beyond high alarm rates, doctors and nurses often struggle
with basic issues of alarm recognition and differentiation such
as masking, when more than one alarm sounds and renders
another inaudible [11]. This results in potentially dangerous
situations where some alarms are heard, while others are
missed. Even in best case scenarios when alarms are audible to
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/21/$25.00©2021IEEE
October 2021
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