Auditory and visual distance estimation

Abstract

Past research has shown auditory distance estimation improves when listeners are given the opportunity to see all possible sound sources when compared to no visual input. It has also been established that distance perception is more accurate for visual stimuli than auditory stimuli. The present study investigates the degree to which auditory distance perception is improved when matched with a congruent visual stimulus. Virtual sound sources based on impulse response measurements made from distances ranging from .3038 m to 9.7536 m in a concert hall were used as auditory stimuli. Visual stimuli were photographs taken from the listener's perspective at each distance in the impulse response measurement setup presented on a large HDTV monitor. Listeners were asked to estimate egocentric distance to the sound source in each of three conditions: (A) auditory only, (V) visual only, and (A+V) congruent auditory/visual stimuli. Each condition was presented within its own block. Distance estimates from both V and A+V conditions were found to be considerably more accurate and less variable than estimates from the A condition. These results are consistent with "visual capture" phenomena that have been demonstrated in other spatial tasks with input from both auditory and visual modalities.