An earcon is a brief, distinctive sound used to represent a specific event or convey other information. Earcons are a common feature of computer operating systems and applications, ranging from beeping when an error occurs to the customizable sound schemes of Windows 7 that indicate startup, shutdown, and many other events.
The name is a pun on the more familiar term icon in computer interfaces. Icon sounds like "eye-con" and is visual, which inspired D.A. Sumikawa to coin "earcon" as the auditory equivalent in a 1985 article, 'Guidelines for the integration of audio cues into computer user interfaces.'
Although the term is most commonly applied to sound cues in a computer interface, examples of the concept can be seen in broadcast media such as radio and television:
Earcons are generally synthesized tones or sound patterns. The similar term auditory icon refers to recorded everyday sounds that are used for the same purpose.