4 research outputs found
Audiovisual Integration Varies with Target and Environment Richness in Immersive Virtual Reality: Supplementary Material
<p>We are continually
bombarded by information arriving to each of our senses; however, the brain seems
to effortlessly integrate this separate information into a unified percept.
Although multisensory integration has been researched extensively using simple
computer tasks and stimuli, much less is known about how multisensory
integration functions in real-world contexts. Additionally, several recent studies have
demonstrated that multisensory integration varies tremendously across
naturalistic stimuli. Virtual reality can be used to study multisensory
integration in realistic settings because it combines realism with precise
control over the environment and stimulus presentation. In the current study,
we investigated whether multisensory integration as measured by the redundant
signals effects (RSE) is observable in naturalistic environments using virtual
reality and whether it differs as a function of target and/or environment cue-richness. Participants detected auditory, visual, and
audiovisual targets which varied in cue-richness within three distinct virtual
worlds that also varied in cue-richness. We demonstrated integrative effects in
each environment-by-target pairing and further showed a modest effect on multisensory
integration as a function of target cue-richness but only in the cue-rich
environment. Our study is the first to definitively show that minimal and more
naturalistic tasks elicit comparable redundant signals effects. Our results also
suggest that multisensory integration may function differently depending on the
features of the environment. The results
of this study have important implications in the design of virtual multisensory
environments that are currently being used for training, educational, and
entertainment purposes.</p
Features of the psychometric function.
<p>Individual participant data was fit with a psychometric function for each perceptual load. The resulting mean PSS (A), nJND (B), and pJND (C) are shown grouped by the modality of the distractor task. Both the nJND and pJND, but not the PSS, increased with increasing load. No significant effects of distractor modality were found. Error bars represent SEM. * Indicate significant differences (p < .0125) as compared to NL.</p
Percent flash first reports across SOA for the CTOJ task separated by visual versus auditory distractor tasks.
<p>SOA significantly influenced the percent of flash-first reports with positive SOAs (visual leading) resulting in more visual first reports. SOA and perceptual load significantly interacted for both distractor modalities indicating that perceptual load modulates performance on the CTOJ task. Error bars represent the SEM. * indicate significant differences between NL and HL and/or NL and LL at the Bonferroni-corrected alpha level of p < .0018.</p
Performance on the visual and auditory distractor tasks.
<p>Accuracy was lower for HL compared to LL for both visual and auditory distractors. Additionally, accuracy was higher for the visual distractor task then the auditory distractor task. Error bars represent SEM. * Indicate significance differences between LL and HL.</p