  Mixed-reality (MR) soundscapes blend real-world sound with virtual audio from
hearing devices, presenting intricate auditory information that is hard to
discern and differentiate. This is particularly challenging for blind or
visually impaired individuals, who rely on sounds and descriptions in their
everyday lives. To understand how complex audio information is consumed, we
analyzed online forum posts within the blind community, identifying prevailing
challenges, needs, and desired solutions. We synthesized the results and
propose SoundShift for increasing MR sound awareness, which includes six sound
manipulations: Transparency Shift, Envelope Shift, Position Shift, Style Shift,
Time Shift, and Sound Append. To evaluate the effectiveness of SoundShift, we
conducted a user study with 18 blind participants across three simulated MR
scenarios, where participants identified specific sounds within intricate
soundscapes. We found that SoundShift increased MR sound awareness and
minimized cognitive load. Finally, we developed three real-world example
applications to demonstrate the practicality of SoundShift.
