From vibration to perception: using Large Multi-Actuator Panels (LaMAPs) to create coherent audio-visual environments

International audienceVirtual reality aims at providing users with audio-visual worlds where they will behave and learn as if they were in the real world. In this context, specific acoustic transducers are needed to fulfill simultaneous spatial requirements on visual and audio rendering in order to make them coherent. Large multi-actuator panels (LaMAPs) allow for the combined construction of a projection screen and loudspeaker array, and thus allows for the coherent creation of an audio and visual virtual world. They thus constitute an attractive alternative to electro-dynamical loudspeakers and multi-actuator panels previously used. In this paper, the vibroacoustic behavior of LaMAPs is studied and it is shown that LaMAPs can be used as secondary sources for wave field synthesis (WFS). The auditory virtual environment created by LaMAPs driven by WFS is then perceptually assessed in an experiment where users estimate the egocentric distance of an audio virtual object by means of triangulation. Vibro-acoustic and perceptual results indicate that LaMAPs driven by WFS can be confidently used for the creation of auditory virtual worlds

From presence to consciousness through virtual reality

Immersive virtual environments can break the deep, everyday connection between where our senses tell us we are and where we are actually located and whom we are with. The concept of 'presence' refers to the phenomenon of behaving and feeling as if we are in the virtual world created by computer displays. In this article, we argue that presence is worthy of study by neuroscientists, and that it might aid the study of perception and consciousness

Constructing sonified haptic line graphs for the blind student: first steps

Line graphs stand as an established information visualisation and analysis technique taught at various levels of difficulty according to standard Mathematics curricula. It has been argued that blind individuals cannot use line graphs as a visualisation and analytic tool because they currently primarily exist in the visual medium. The research described in this paper aims at making line graphs accessible to blind students through auditory and haptic media. We describe (1) our design space for representing line graphs, (2) the technology we use to develop our prototypes and (3) the insights from our preliminary work

3D sound for simulation of arthroscopic surgery

Arthroscopic surgery offers many advantages compared to traditional surgery. Nevertheless, the required skills to practice this kind of surgery need specific training. Surgery simulators are used to train surgeon apprentices to practice specific gestures. In this paper, we present a study showing the contribution of 3D sound in assisting the triangulation gesture in arthroscopic surgery simulation. This ability refers to the capacity of the subject to manipulate the instruments while having a modified and limited view provided by the video camera of the simulator. Our approach, based on the use of 3D sound metaphors, provides interaction cues to the subjects about the real position of the instrument. The paper reports a performance evaluation study based on the perception of 3D sound integrated in the process of training of surgical task. Despite the fact that 3D sound cueing was not shown useful to all subjects in terms of execution time, the results of the study revealed that the majority of subjects who participated to the experiment confirmed the added value of 3D sound in terms of ease of use