"Safe and Sound: Using Audio to Communicate Comfort, Safety, and Familiarity in Digital Media"

This chapter explores the reasons for which audio feedback and other sounded responses are designed for digital media technology and the ways in which these sounds communicate a sense of comfort, familiarity, or safety to users. Citing a wide range of aural experiences with technology, from sounded “states of operation assurances” on household appliances and personal computers, to the immersive sound design in video games, and “Music on hold,” this essay examines the dynamic role sound plays in forging our emotional relationship with digital media. Further, special attention is dedicated to the possible ways in which emotional communication is transmitted and heard via sound in digital media.