Onset asynchrony in spoken menus

The menu is an important interface component, which appears unlikely to be completely superseded by modern search-based approaches. For someone who is unable to attend a screen visually, however, alternative non-visual menu formats are often problematic. A display is developed in which multiple concurrent words are presented with different amounts of onset asynchrony. The effect of different amounts of asynchrony and word length on task durations, accuracy and workload are explored. It is found that total task duration is significantly affected by both onset asynchrony and word duration. Error rates are significantly affected by both onset asynchrony, word length and their interaction, whilst subjective workload scores are only significantly affected by onset asynchrony. Overall, the results appear to suggest that the best compromise between accuracy, workload and speed may be achieved through presenting shorter or temporally-compressed words with a short inter-stimuli interval

Report on the In-vehicle Auditory Interactions Workshop: Taxonomy, Challenges, and Approaches

Jeon M, Hermann T, Bazilinskyy P, et al. Report on the In-vehicle Auditory Interactions Workshop: Taxonomy, Challenges, and Approaches. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications - Automotive'UI 15. 2015: 1-5.As driving is mainly a visual task, auditory displays play a critical role for in-vehicle interactions.To improve in-vehicle auditory interactions to the advanced level, auditory display researchers and automotive user interface researchers came together to discuss this timely topic at an in-vehicle auditory interactions workshop at the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD).The present paper reports discussion outcomes from the workshop for more discussions at the AutoUI conference

First fossil sponge from Antarctica and its palaeobiogeographical significance

Laocoetis piserai n. sp. (Hexactinellida, Porifera) from the mid-Cretaceous (i.e., Albian–Cenomanian) of James Ross Island is the first record of a fossil sponge from Antarctica. This new occurrence of a formerly widespread genus was restricted to relatively deep waters on the margins of an active volcanic arc. Its occurrence in Antarctica is further evidence that the genus Laocoetis underwent a dramatic reduction in its geographic range through the Cenozoic. The only living species of the genus at the present day is Laocoetis perion from Madagascar