https://stemasov.dev/tags/audio/Audio — Evgeny Stemasov - HCI Researchen-cahttps://stemasov.dev/research/iamr-augmentedhearing/https://stemasov.dev/research/iamr-augmentedhearing/Sat, 21 Mar 2020 20:18:36 +0200<h2 id="abstract">Abstract</h2> <p>Many people utilize audio equipment to escape from noises around them, leading to the desired isolation but also dangerously reduced awareness. Mediation of sounds through smarter headphones (e.g., hearables) could address this by providing non-uniform interaction with sounds while retaining a comfortable, yet informative soundscape. In a week-long event sampling study (n = 12), we found that users mostly desire muting or a distinct &ldquo;quiet-but-audible&rdquo; volume for sound sources. A follow-up study (n = 12) compared a reduced interaction granularity with a continuous one in VR. Usability and workload did not differ significantly for the two granularities but a set of four states can be considered sufficient for most scenarios, namely: &lsquo;&lsquo;muted&rsquo;&rsquo;, &lsquo;&lsquo;quieter&rsquo;&rsquo;, &lsquo;&rsquo;louder&rsquo;&rsquo; and &lsquo;&lsquo;unchanged&rsquo;&rsquo;, allowing for smoother interaction flows. We provide implications for the design of interactive auditory mediated reality systems enabling users to be safe, comfortable and less isolated from their surroundings, while re-gaining agency over their sense of hearing.</p>https://stemasov.dev/research/soundscapecuration/https://stemasov.dev/research/soundscapecuration/Wed, 26 Sep 2018 12:28:21 +0100<h2 id="abstract">Abstract</h2> <p>Continuous advances in personal audio technology (e.g. headphones), led to efficient noise cancellation and allowed users to build and influence their personal acoustic environment. Despite the high adoption and ubiquitous character of the technology, we do not fully understand which particular factors influence and form usage patterns. As a step towards understanding the usage of personal audio technology, we conducted two focus groups (n=10) to investigate current headphone usage and users&rsquo; wishes regarding current and future personal audio technology. Based on this data, we derive a model for what we call personal soundscape curation. This model was assessed with the data of a crowdsourced survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk (n=194) on state of the art practices. Personal soundscape curation allows to describe usage strategies (curation, adaptation, renunciation) and break down influencing factors of context and environment as well as illustrate which consequences may arise from the users&rsquo; behavior.</p>