Contribution
Effect of source and self-motion on distance perception in virtual environments
* Presenting author
Abstract:
Auditory distance perception is crucial for spatial awareness and navigation, particularly in estimating trajectories to avoid collisions with moving objects. While research on distance perception of static sound sources is well-established, less is known about moving sound sources or static sources perceived during self-motion. This study aimed to investigate these aspects through two headphone-based experiments conducted in a virtual audio-visual environment. In a first experiment, the minimum audible angle and just-noticeable distance difference were measured to establish a baseline performance within the virtual environment. The main experiment investigated auditory distance perception for either moving or stationary invisible sound sources. For the stationary sound source, participants were either stationary or moved towards/away from the sound source, enabling a comprehensive analysis of both static and dynamic conditions. Two virtual rooms, differing in room dimensions and reverberation times, were generated using real-time room acoustics simulation. The results show that a movement was perceived for static source more often, when the participant was moving compared to when the participant was stationary. The results may contribute to improving our understanding of how humans process complex spatial information during motion and inform applications in areas such as virtual reality, assistive technology, and navigation systems.