Can someone please explain earcons?

[davemac]

I've learned that earcons are similar to icons, that is, they are like
audible splats, not text at all. I've seen the addEarcon() method
calls to add them, and I've seen playEarcon() to play them, but I
don't yet understand exactly how and when to invoke them.Can you stick
earcon references into a text string that you pass to the speak()
method? Or are they more like signals to the listener like audible
cues? Like if you had a picture book with audible text, and playing
the earcon tells the reader to turn the page? Or are these more like
system sounds in other operating systems, to let the user know about a
low battery condition, or Bluetooth is ready, or network connection
lost, things like that?

Are there "standard" earcons available in Pico? If so, what are their
names?

Thank you.

- dave

[clchen]

On Oct 21, 12:29 pm, davemac <davemac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've learned that earcons are similar to icons, that is, they are like
> audible splats, not text at all.

Yes, that is correct.

> I've seen the addEarcon() method
> calls to add them, and I've seen playEarcon() to play them, but I
> don't yet understand exactly how and when to invoke them.

It's basically a convenience for developers who want to do something
like precede their spoken utterance with a ding noise or something
like that. By using playEarcon followed by speak, those sounds will go
into the speech queue in that order, ensuring that you hear the earcon
and then the spoken words. Otherwise, you would have to do implement
something more complex yourself, like use MediaPlayer and then speak
in the OnCompletion listener.

>Can you stick
> earcon references into a text string that you pass to the speak()
> method?

No.

> Or are they more like signals to the listener like audible
> cues? Like if you had a picture book with audible text, and playing
> the earcon tells the reader to turn the page? Or are these more like
> system sounds in other operating systems, to let the user know about a
> low battery condition, or Bluetooth is ready, or network connection
> lost, things like that?

They are signals to the listener to pay attention. They can also be
used as a way to clearly separate spoken utterances (you could use
them as the auditory equivalent to the bullet point in a list for
example).

> Are there "standard" earcons available in Pico? If so, what are their
> names?

No. Earcons are provided by the developer.

However, in TextToSpeech Extended, there is one standard earcon:
"[tock]". It is exactly what it sounds like - a tock noise. This is
what we use in things like the talking dialer and eyes-free shell.

-Charles