Article
Distance perception in virtual environments with source or self motion (en)
* Presenting author
Abstract:
Auditory distance perception plays an important role in spatial awareness and navigation. Estimating trajectories could help to avoid collisions with moving objects in daily life. While auditory distance perception is well researched for static objects, less is known about distance perception of moving sound sources or of static sound sources with self-motion of the receiver. A headphone experiment was conducted in a virtual audio-visual environment, where distance perception for moving objects was investigated by marking the start and end points of a trajectory of an invisible moving sound source. Two shoebox-shaped virtual rooms with different reverberation times were generated within a real time room acoustic simulator. The movement direction of the sound source was either in the direction of the listener or in a different direction. During the experiment the listener was either stationary or could move towards or away from the sound source. The virtual room was displayed either via a computer screen or via a HMD, and contained optional furniture serving as a reference frame for distances. Results of this study may help to better understand the complex processes underlying auditory motion perception and the influence of different visual and auditory cues on perceiving moving sound sources.