Rhetorical Schemes for Audio Communication

The application of rhetorical techniques to the use of non-verbal sound in the interaction between humans and technologies is the core idea of this paper. We present our ideas at a general level and illustrate an exploratory case based on the application of rhetorical schemes to the sonification of computer operating system events. Both cases of musical sounds and everyday sounds are investigated. This work is intended as a preliminary study aiming at motivating a larger scale and more rigorous research about the potentiality of the use of rhetoric in the domain of Auditory Display (AD) and Sonic Interaction Design (SID). 1