Contribution

Poster cancelled: An Adaptable Framework to Systematically Investigate the Effects of Individual Distractors within Background Elements in Virtual Reality on Auditory and Audiovisual Cognition

* Presenting author
Day / Time: 20.03.2025, 11:00-11:40
Typ: Poster
Information: The posters will be exhibited in Hall E north from Tuesday to Thursday, sorted by thematic context in the poster island indicated in the session title. The poster session at the specified time offers the opportunity to enter into discussion with the authors.
Abstract:

Designing audiovisual environments in virtual reality (VR) that closely resemble real-life scenarios is essential for studying the effects of auditory and audiovisual distractors on different facets of auditory and audiovisual cognition with high representational plausibility. These scenarios typically include multiple objects, from task-relevant objects to task-irrelevant distractors, as well as various background elements presented multimodally. While previous research has extensively examined audiovisual effects focusing mainly on task-relevant target objects (e.g., a conversation partner), this work focuses on the development of a VR-based framework that enables systematic investigations of cognitive effects (e.g., performance decrease in auditory attention tasks) introduced by individual distractors (e.g., a moving and/or sound-generating source) within background elements in VR setups.The framework comprises a modular principle that allows gradually increasing the complexity of the VR environment, integrating diverse distractors and background elements in spatial multimodal settings. It provides a structured approach for designing and controlling VR-based experimental setups, allowing researchers to flexibly exchange distractor elements and characteristics as well as cognitive tasks to address specific research questions. This approach facilitates empirical studies on multimodal distractors across different cognitive functions and virtual environment setups by offering a reusable and adaptable framework for future research.