What is an Earcon?

Question

I just stumbled upon the method TextToSpeech.addEarcon(String, String) in Android's TTS API. I actually couldn't find more information on the net, so does anyone know what exactly an earcon is?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Earcon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earcon

An earcon is a brief, distinctive sound used to represent a specific event or convey other information. Earcons are a common feature of computer operating systems and applications, ranging from beeping when an error occurs to the customizable sound schemes of Windows 7 that indicate startup, shutdown, and many other events.

The name is a pun on the more familiar term icon in computer interfaces. Icon sounds like "eye-con" and are visual, which inspired D.A. Sumikawa to coin "earcon" as the auditory equivalent in a 1985 article, 'Guidelines for the integration of audio cues into computer user interfaces.'

Here's the article they're talking about:

http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=5475406

Earcon Android API

Adds a mapping between a string of text and a sound file. Use this to add custom earcons.

And here's the API reference for that method.