Auditory spatial cognition

In the field of sound reproduction and communication, future audio technology will attempt to shift emphasis towards sensations of immersion and presence. Such notions are intimately linked to the spatial dimensions of a multimedia scene and are intensified in situations involving the participation of the listener. This participation may involve navigation within a scene or the gestural interaction of objects within it.

Under these conditions, made possible by binaural and holophonic technology, the  congruence and real-time updating of auditory spatial clues in accordance with the listener's movement or actions, have a major impact on the sensation of presence. Such a context led to the development of a set of experiments focusing on auditory spatial cognition, notably via the study of multi-sensorial integration processes, focusing on auditory and idiothetical modalities (clues induced by the subject's movements including balance and proprioception).

Experimental methods call on behavioral experiences based on the observation of a subject's performance, in terms of localization and navigation, when submitted to different exploratory contexts.

This aspect of the research, multidisciplinary by nature, benefits from the presence of Isabelle Viaud-Delmon, a specialist in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience (CNRS-section 27).

Participants