Auditory Channel - Advantages

Each sense modality can be thought of as a "channel" through which information is received and processed. Each channel has limited capacity or bandwidth in terms of the amount of information that can pass through it at one time. "Channel capacity," a concept derived from information processing theory, is useful in selecting the appropriate sense modality or modalities in display design.

The human visual system has the greatest channel capacity/bandwidth and is heavily relied upon in display design. However, the auditory channel has several characteristics that make it more appropriate to use in some instances.

• Sound Surrounds - Sound is omni-directional.
• No or Low Visibility Environments - Hearing does not depend on the presence of light.
• Attention Getting - Sound can be very obtrusive, immediately demanding our attention.
• Attention Concentrating - Our auditory system can filter sound, enabling us to locate and attend to specific sounds in a noisy or sound-filled background.

Listening to a symphony, we can selectively attend to and separate out the sounds of different instruments such as the flutes, clarinets, or violins. The drums and cymbals immediately gain our attention.