Spearcons Improve Navigation Performance and Perceived Speediness in Korean Auditory Menus

For decades, auditory menus using both speech (usually text-to-speech, TTS) and non-speech sounds have been extensively studied. Researchers have developed situation-optimized auditory menus involving such cues as auditory icons, earcons, spearcons, and spindex. Spearcons have generally outperformed other cues in terms of providing both contextual information and item-specific information. However, little research has been devoted to exploration of spearcons in languages other than English, or the use of spearcon-only auditory menus. In this study, we evaluated the use of spearcons in Korean menus, as well as the use of spearcons alone. Twenty-five native Korean speakers navigated through a two-dimensional auditory menu presented via TTS, with or without spearcon enhancements. Korean spearcons were successful. Participants also rated the spearcon-enhanced menu as seeming speedier and more fun than the TTS-only menu. After a short learning period, mean time-to-target in the auditory menu was even faster with spearcons alone, compared to traditional TTS-only menus.