Evaluation of Spatial Presentation in Sonification for Identifying Concurrent Audio Streams

The ultimate goal of sonification is to transfer information effectively to listeners. While there is a large amount of multidisciplinary investigation in the field of psychoacoustic, psychology, cognition and human computer interaction, sonification design still lacks empirical evidence on which to base design decisions [1]. This paper presents an empirical investigation of spatialization, which can provide one or more dimensions for auditory display. It focuses, in particular, on evaluating spatial presentation in sonification so as to enhance pattern identification when two audio streams are played simultaneously. Hence it aims to develop design decisions that benefit from effective information representation. The sounds were created for binaural reproduction using nonindividual head-related transfer functions. The results reported are based on the listeners’ performance within two display modes: (i) two co-located streams and (ii) two streams spatially separated at static locations. It concludes with ideas for future improvements and developments for this type of sonification. [