To be able to design product sounds that elicit a predetermined expression a study was
performed to find how sound properties influence the experience of their expression. Two
explorative studies using figurative against abstract visual stimuli were performed to
create insight in how people experience sounds and to create a list of usable semantic
associations. This list was ordered in 25 expression categories each under one descriptive
semantic association. A third study using mind mapping was conducted to examine what
sound properties were considered as influences on a few of these categories and to
optimize the categorization. The sound properties that were considered as most influential
were sharpness and noisiness. The final descriptive semantic associations were placed
on a scale with the axes unpleasant-pleasant and calm-active. From these the following
were considered to be most usable: activated, angry, boring, calm, chaotic, cheerful, eerie,
energetic, pleasant, relaxed, trustworthy and unpleasant. In a fourth study the sounds of
six domestic appliances were chosen and adjusted for sharpness, noisiness and their
combination. They were evaluated for their valued expression on the 12 semantic
associations by 30 participants. The results showed that increased sharpness elicited a
more unpleasant and activated expression and decreased sharpness elicited a more
pleasant and calm expression. This indicates that a general influence of sound properties
can be established to design sounds for expression.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612412/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 July 2010 |
| Creators | Verviers, Claire Juliette |
| Contributors | Pedgley, Owain |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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