ASA 129th Meeting - Washington, DC - 1995 May 30 .. Jun 06

2pPP49. Measurement of localization ability using virtual audio cues and visual target acquisition.

AL/CFBA, 2610 Seventh St., WPAFB, OH 45433-2901

Richard L. McKinley

AL/CFBA, WPAFB, OH 45433

David R. Perrott

California State Univ., Los Angeles, CA

Larry Hettinger

Logicon Technical Services, Inc., WPAFB, OH 45433

Visual target detection was used to demonstrate the ability of subjects to localize with a virtual audio display. The testing facility consisted of audio presented over headphones with and without localization cues and a projection screen bearing the visual scene. In each trial the visual target appeared as one pixel at a random location of the screen. The target grew in size until found by the subject. The sound cue came on at threshold level and became progressively louder until the target was found. The audio cue was pink noise while the visual targets consisted of aircraft icons. Subject reaction time was measured from target onset to target detection. As indicated by the preliminary data, the localized audio condition faithfully provided the location of the target resulting in reaction times significantly better than with the nonlocalized audio cue.