Audio user interface with audio cursor

An apparatus for providing an audio user interface 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 apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor to:
• determine, for each of the item-representing sound sources, an associated rendering position at which the corresponding item-representing sound source is to be synthesized to emanate sound in the audio field;
• cause movement, in response to input from a user input device, of an audio cursor in the audio field, wherein a distinctive cursor sound is emanated from the audio cursor;
• in response to the audio cursor being moved in the audio field to a position that is within a threshold distance of a given one of the item-representing sound sources, generate a related audible indication by modifying, in a manner that is perceptible to a user, the sound emanating from at least one of the given item-representing sound source and the audio cursor;
• output another unique sound in response to detecting that the audio cursor has been moved to coincide with the given item-representing sound source;
• and
• in response to user selection with the user input device that is responsive to the unique sound, changing a mode of the apparatus from a first mode to a second mode, wherein in the first mode the sounds emanated by the item-representing sound sources are output at respective positions in the audio field, and wherein in the second mode the sound of the given item-representing sound source is output without outputting sounds of other ones of the item-representing sound sources.

A method of an audio interface apparatus in which items are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from which sounds related to the items appear to emanate, the method being performed with respect to an audio cursor in the form of a synthesized sound source that is movable in the audio field, the method comprising:

• moving the audio cursor in the audio field in response to input from a user input device, wherein the synthesized sound source of the audio cursor emanates a first audible indication;
• in response to the audio cursor being moved in the audio field to a position that is within a threshold distance to a given one of the item-representing sound sources, generating a second audible indication by modifying, in a manner that is perceptible to a user, the sound emanating from the audio cursor, the second audible indication different from the first audible indication;
• outputting a third audible indication that is different from the first and second audible indications, in response to detecting that the audio cursor has been moved to coincide with the given item-representing sound source;
• and
• in response to user selection with the user input device that is responsive to the third audible indication, changing a mode of the audio interface apparatus from a first mode to a second mode, wherein in the first mode the sounds emanated by the item-representing sound sources are output at respective positions in the audio field, and wherein in the second mode the sound of the given item-representing sound source is output without outputting sounds of other ones of the item-representing sound sources.