Optimal Time Window for the Integration of Spatial Audio-Visual Information in Virtual Environments

Sound duration and location may influence both auditory and visual perception with consequences for the judgement of both auditory-visual event location and integration. This study investigated audio-visual integration in a virtual environment using both short- and long-duration auditory stimuli with visual stimuli temporally offset from the start of the auditory stimulus, to investigate the effects of top-down neural effects on perception. Two tasks were used, an auditory localization task and a detection task (judgement of audio-visual synchrony). Eleven participants took part in the study using a HTC Vive Pro. The short-duration auditory stimuli (35-ms spatialized sound) and long-duration auditory stimuli (600-ms non-spatialized sound followed by 35 ms of spatialized sound) were presented at -60°, -30°, 0°, +30° and +60° degrees azimuth, with the visual stimulus presented synchronously or asynchronously with respect to the start of the auditory stimulus. Results showed that localization errors were larger for the longer-duration stimuli and judgements of audiovisual synchrony tended to be improved for stimuli presented at ±30°. Top-down neural processing can affect spatial localization and audio-visual processing. Auditory localization errors and audio-visual synchrony detection may reveal the effects of underlying neural feedback mechanisms that can be harnessed to optimize audio-visual experiences in virtual environments

Optimizing Speech Recognition Using a Computational Model of Human Hearing: Effect of Noise Type and Efferent Time Constants

Physiological and psychophysical methods allow for an extended investigation of ascending (afferent) neural pathways from the ear to the brain in mammals, and their role in enhancing signals in noise. However, there is increased interest in descending (efferent) neural fibers in the mammalian auditory pathway. This efferent pathway operates via the olivocochlear system, modifying auditory processing by cochlear innervation and enhancing human ability to detect sounds in noisy backgrounds. Effective speech intelligibility may depend on a complex interaction between efferent time-constants and types of background noise. In this study, an auditory model with efferent-inspired processing provided the front-end to an automatic-speech-recognition system (ASR), used as a tool to evaluate speech recognition with changes in time-constants (50 to 2000 ms) and background noise type (unmodulated and modulated noise). With efferent activation, maximal speech recognition improvement (for both noise types) occurred for signal-to-noise ratios around 10 dB, characteristic of real-world speech-listening situations. Net speech improvement due to efferent activation (NSIEA) was smaller in modulated noise than in unmodulated noise. For unmodulated noise, NSIEA increased with increasing time-constant. For modulated noise, NSIEA increased for time-constants up to 200 ms but remained similar for longer time-constants, consistent with speech-envelope modulation times important to speech recognition in modulated noise. The model improves our understanding of the complex interactions involved in speech recognition in noise, and could be used to simulate the difficulties of speech perception in noise as a consequence of different types of hearing loss

Effect of efferent activation on binaural frequency selectivity

Binaural notched-noise experiments indicate a reduced frequency selectivity of the binaural system compared to monaural processing. The present study investigates how auditory efferent activation (via the medial olivocochlear system) affects binaural frequency selectivity in normal-hearing listeners. Thresholds were measured for a 1-kHz signal embedded in a diotic notched-noise masker for various notch widths. The signal was either presented in phase (diotic) or in antiphase (dichotic), gated with the noise. Stimulus duration was 25 ms, in order to avoid efferent activation due to the masker or the signal. A bandpass-filtered noise precursor was presented prior to the masker and signal stimuli to activate the efferent system. The silent interval between the precursor and the masker-signal complex was 50 ms. For comparison, thresholds for detectability of the masked signal were also measured in a baseline condition without the precursor and, in addition, without the masker. On average, the results of the baseline condition indicate an effectively wider binaural filter, as expected. For both signal phases, the addition of the precursor results in effectively wider filters, which is in agreement with the hypothesis that cochlear gain is reduced due to the presence of the precursor

Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation.

Many natural sounds, including speech and animal vocalizations, involve rapid sequences that vary in spectrum and amplitude. Each sound within a sequence has the potential to affect the audibility of subsequent sounds in a process known as forward masking. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying forward masking, particularly in more realistic situations in which multiple sounds follow each other in rapid succession. A parsimonious hypothesis is that the effects of consecutive sounds combine linearly, so that the total masking effect is a simple sum of the contributions from the individual maskers. The experiment reported here tests a counterintuitive prediction of this linear-summation hypothesis, namely that a sound that itself is inaudible should, under certain circumstances, affect the audibility of subsequent sounds. The results show that, when two forward maskers are combined, the second of the two maskers can continue to produce substantial masking, even when it is completely masked by the first masker. Thus, inaudible sounds can affect the perception of subsequent sounds. A model incorporating instantaneous compression (reflecting the nonlinear response of the basilar membrane in the cochlea), followed by linear summation of the effects of the maskers, provides a good account of the data. Despite the presence of multiple sources of nonlinearity in the auditory system, masking effects by sequential sounds combine in a manner that is well captured by a time-invariant linear system

Temperature Effect on the Structure of Transformer Oil Based Magnetic Fluids Using Acoustic Spectroscopy

The changes in structural arrangement in transformer oil based magnetic fluids upon the effect of an external magnetic field and temperature were studied by acoustic spectroscopy. The attenuation of acoustic waves was measured as a function of an external magnetic field in the range of 0-300 mT, parallel to the direction of the field and as a function of temperature in the range of 15-35°C for various magnetic nanoparticles concentrations. The strong influence of the steeped magnetic field on the acoustic wave attenuation was detected and its hysteresis was observed, too. When a magnetic field is swept at a constant rate, the dominant interactions between the external magnetic field and the magnetic moment of the nanoparticles occur, leading to the aggregation of magnetic nanoparticles and clusters formation. However, the temperature of magnetic fluids has very important influence on the obtained dependences, where the mechanism of thermal motion acts against the cluster creation. The observed influences of magnetic field and temperature on the investigated magnetic liquids structure are discussed