4: Potential for a Lynchian Language in HCI Applications
We present uses cases that demonstrate the applicability of the previously discussed elements and how they can be utilized as design elements in user experiences. Rather than give concrete examples of ready-made use cases, we rather posit examples as starting points for dialogue on how this kind of abstract approach can bring the Lynchian aesthetic to HCI to create new and potentially unrealized experiences.
4.1 Security through Alertness, Alertness through Drone
The reasons behind a user’s mistakes can be manyfold. Critical error points when making a selection can be the unawareness of the negative consequences a decision can have or selections in applications where the routine of the user sets in and the importance of the decisions are not considered anymore. Approaches such as blinking elements, a text box alert, or an additional confirmation step could be used to alert the user of critical decisions. However, such procedures are often disruptive and require a certain level of comprehension and reflection of these warnings and the potential consequences of the actions.
To circumvent the need for comprehension and reflection of presented warnings, an approach that creates a visceral response might serve useful. Creating an emotional resonance through background noise or static drones that results in an uncomfortableness and alertness can make the user "feel" a tension of the potential consequence while making such a decision. Leveraging an uneasiness in the user by introducing these drones or humming sounds allows the potential for designers to use these affective sonic tools as an element with varying intensity and overtness. While the aesthetic result of using droning sounds and layers of noise may be left to the interpretation of the user, certain audio phenomena can be utilized in creative ways to induce a certain tendency towards the unsettling. Studies by researcher Vic Tandy found that frequencies around 19Hz could produce certain psychological response akin to a "haunted" experience [32]. By using these roughly 19Hz frequencies, which lie just below our threshold of hearing, a subtly feeling of unease could be used as a design element. This would present some problem which would need to be resolved, such as the difficulty in producing this sub-20Hz frequency through most headphones or speaker system, but it has potential to be utilized in some manner.
Using drone sounds is a low-key approach that can be used to make users more alert in critical moments without them being disrupted or distracted in their task. This provides a way to encourage a desired action on behalf of the designers, not through a positive encouragement but through a subtly abstract sense of unease. If done in the right manner, this could be a useful tool in encouraging certain behaviors or actions through a less direct or expected way.
4.2 Doom Scrolling Into Sonic Collapse
"Doom scrolling" is a phenomenon often encountered with social media platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, where users are constantly engaged and encouraged to continue scrolling through the content. While not all supposed doom scrolling has inherent negative effects [4, 6], it has been shown that a wide body of related works explore methods to either let the users control their usage amount by blocking applications or setting a time contingent. While this breaks the users behavior of continued usage, it does not stop the user from wanting to use the application. As an integrated way of combating this, we propose the use of Sonic Aberrations as an effective means of moving the user towards reduced Doom Scrolling. In this instance, the modified audio aspects could be triggered at some pre-determined moment, whether time-based or based on the amount of content consumed by the user. When the Sonic Aberrations kick in, the audio from their viewed content would start to gradually become out of sync, have a vastly degraded audio fidelity, words could become reverse-reversed (i.e. the Red Room), or eventually become replaced by completely unrelated sound design such as industrial screeching or sounds which cannot be completely defined by the user. As these sounds begin to take over the expected sound palette of the social media content, the user could either become uninterested in this effect or realize that they have reached their limit to social media exposure. The actual process of watching these social media contents would become unpleasant and make the viewer wish it would stop.
4.3 Virtual Surreality
Video games such as Silent Hill have included Lynchian elements into their repertoire to achieve highly praised affect in the player, such as disjointed and fragmented audio cues, ominous drones, and background textures meant to evoke a sense of dread. Kentucky Route Zero has also been referred to as have a Lynchian vibe due to its surreal narrative approach and use of nostalgia-inspired musical works. Yet another such example is Playdead’s Limbo, which features a consistent use of background hums and drones akin to Lynch’s Eraserhead or Rabbits.
When designing for Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, and other parts along the Mixed Reality continuum [24], the goal is often to create high fidelity technology and stimulation of the senses (high immersion) [30] and making an optimal experience with ease-of-use and quality-of-life-features for the user [16]. However, previous work has shown that elements which could be seen as unpleasant and are often tried to be negated have the potential to enhance the virtual experience [15]. In terms of sound and affect, the design of the sounds can actually offer a sort of control or balancing of moods and anxiety levels [2]. Therefore, designers should consider embracing the "unpleasant" and include it in their design language to allow a broader range of affective design principles.
Virtual Reality is commonly considered a predominately visual medium, and in turn the auditory aspects are not as often fully utilized as a core expressive component when dealing with intentional experience alteration. Illusions within VR rely heavily on visuals and include redirected walking [27] and pseudo-haptics [13], which alter the user’s orientation and haptic perception by using visual stimuli. However, audio has been demonstrated to be effective for altering the users gait [17] or self-perception [31]. Johnson and Coxon [19] have shown that when combining visual and auditory elements user can achieve a heightened pain tolerance during VR experiences [19].
Using Lynchian elements such as drone sounds or industrial ambience when the user is getting closer to the boundaries of the virtual tracking space could help to usher the user away from the corners. Furthermore, increasingly disassociated sound displacement between the seen and the heard could be useful in designing an intentionally unsettling experience for the sake of guiding the user.