Audio StreamerExploiting simultaneity for

listening

Chris Schmandt and

Atty Mullins

MIT Media Laboratory

More productive listening

time scalingskipping / skimming

(SpeechSkimmer)

simultaneous listening“cocktail party effect”

Simultaneous listening

selective attentioncues for interest on secondary

channelsscenarios:

audio “channel surfing”

evening news on multiple channels

sorting old voice mail

Streamer overview3 simultaneous audio sourceslocalized sound (Beachtron,

headphones)head position sensors (Fish)user controls gain (attention)Streamer gives cues for interest (tone,

gain)

Layout and attention switching

6060’’

Selective attentionwe can select between simultaneous

streamsstreaming factors: tempo, timbre, pitch,

gender, locationStreamer enhances interest by four

levels of gaingain decays, as does attention

Listener attention

More activity = greater interestInterest decays with time

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11

Stream 10

5

10

15

20

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11

Stream 1

Monitoring auxiliary channels

How much do we hear?Streamer enhances possible

points of interestStory boundaries, speaker

changes

Making suggestions

Stream 1Stream 2

Stream3

0

5

10

Stream 1Stream 2

Stream3

tone plus increased gaindecays with time

Future work

listener evaluationbimodal reactions so far

browsing a single recordingmore interaction techniquesauditory “info landscapes”