Interactive simulations are tools that can help students understand and learn about complex relationships. While most simulations are primarily visual due to mostly historical reasons, sounds can be used to add to the experience. In this work, we evaluated sets of audio designs for two different, but contextually- and visually-similar simulations. We identified key aspects of the audio representations and the simulation content which needed to be evaluated, and compared designs across two simulations to understand which auditory designs could generalize to other simulations. To compare the designs and explore how audio affected a user’s experience, we measured preference (through usability, user experience, and open-ended questions) and interpretation accuracy for different aspects of the simulation (including the main relationships and control feedback). We suggest important characteristics to represent through audio for future simulations, provide sound design suggestions, and address how overlap between visual and audio representations can support learning opportunities.

交互式模拟是可以帮助学生理解和了解复杂关系的工具。由于大多数历史原因，大多数模拟主要是视觉效果，但可以使用声音来增加体验。在这项工作中，我们评估了两种不同但上下文和视觉相似的模拟的音频设计集。我们确定了音频表示形式和要评估的模拟内容的关键方面，并比较了两个模拟中的设计，以了解哪些听觉设计可以推广到其他模拟中。为了比较设计并探索音频如何影响用户的体验，我们测量了偏好（通过可用性，用户体验，和不限成员名额的问题）和模拟的不同方面（包括主要关系和控制反馈）的解释准确性。我们建议通过音频来表示的重要特征，以用于将来的仿真，提供声音设计建议，以及解决视觉和音频表示之间的重叠如何为学习机会提供支持的问题。