Audio user interface with selectively-mutable synthesised sound sources

摘要

An audio user interface is provided in which items are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from where sounds related to the items appear to emanate. The sound sources are arranged in groups of at least one sound source. The audibility of the sound sources is automatically and cyclically changed such as to un-mute the sound sources of each group in turn for a limited period with the sound sources of the groups other than the un-muted group being at least partially muted. This selective un-muting of sound sources facilitates exploration of the audio field by the user.