Abstract
The perception and production of biological movements is characterized by the 1/3 power law, a relation linking the curvature and the velocity of an intended action. In particular, motions are perceived and reproduced distorted when their kinematics deviate from this biological law. Whereas most studies dealing with this perceptual-motor relation focused on visual or kinaesthetic modalities in a unimodal context, in this paper we show that auditory dynamics strikingly biases visuomotor processes. Biologically consistent or inconsistent circular visual motions were used in combination with circular or elliptical auditory motions. Auditory motions were synthesized friction sounds mimicking those produced by the friction of the pen on a paper when someone is drawing. Sounds were presented diotically and the auditory motion velocity was evoked through the friction sound timbre variations without any spatial cues. Remarkably, when subjects were asked to reproduce circular visual motion while listening to sounds that evoked elliptical kinematics without seeing their hand, they drew elliptical shapes. Moreover, distortion induced by inconsistent elliptical kinematics in both visual and auditory modalities added up linearly. These results bring to light the substantial role of auditory dynamics in the visuo-motor coupling in a multisensory context.
Highlights
It is well established that biological motion is characterized by specific kinematic properties, for instance, by the 1/3 power law which postulates that the tangential velocity of the motion vt is constrained by the local curvature C of its geometrical trajectory: vt = KC-1/3 with K a constant [1]
The results showed that the geometry of the drawn shapes was noticeably distorted by elliptical kinematics conveyed by both visual and auditory modalities
The experiment presented in this study provides an evidence of the central role of dynamics in the reproduction of the geometry of a visual motion in an audiovisual context
Summary
It is well established that biological motion is characterized by specific kinematic properties, for instance, by the 1/3 power law which postulates that the tangential velocity of the motion vt is constrained by the local curvature C of its geometrical trajectory: vt = KC-1/3 with K a constant [1]. It has been shown that the human ability to track a visual motion with the non-hidden hand is facilitated when the motion complies with the 1/3 power law [2]. The perceived geometry of a circular visual motion can be distorted if the motion does not comply with these biological rules [3]. Viviani, Baud-Bovy, and Redolfi [5] have shown that the perception of the movement geometry is constrained by the covariations between the movement kinematics and PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0154475. Viviani, Baud-Bovy, and Redolfi [5] have shown that the perception of the movement geometry is constrained by the covariations between the movement kinematics and PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0154475 April 27, 2016
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