Previous research has demonstrated that, over a period of weeks, the auditory system accommodates to changes in the monaural spectral cues for sound locations within the frontal region of space. We were interested to determine if similar accommodation could occur for locations in the posterior regions of space, i.e. in the absence of contemporaneous visual information that indicates any mismatch between the perceived and actual location of a sound source. To distort the normal spectral cues to sound location, eight listeners wore small moulds in each ear. HRTF recordings confirmed that while the moulds substantially altered the monaural spectral cues, sufficient residual cues were retained to provide a basis for relearning. Compared to control measures, sound localization performance initially decreased significantly, with a sevenfold increase in front-back confusions and elevation errors more than doubled. Subjects wore the moulds continuously for a period of up to 60 days (median 38 days), over which time performance improved but remained significantly poorer than control levels. Sound localization performance for frontal locations (audio-visual field) was compared with that for posterior space (audio-only field), and there was no significant difference between regions in either the extent or rate of accommodation. This suggests a common mechanism for both regions of space that does not rely on contemporaneous visual information as a teacher signal for recalibration of the auditory system to modified spectral cues.

The Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010, curated by Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of Tokyo-based practice SANAA, included a remarkable twenty-four-minute 3D film by the German director Wim Wenders depicting the practice’s Rolex Learning Centre in Switzerland. Entitled If Buildings Could Talk, the film ran in a continuous loop, without a tangible beginning or end, much like the building itself. Invited by SANAA to develop the film, Wenders found himself confronted with a new type of space that he had no prior experience of, and no vocabulary to describe: ‘The Rolex Learning Centre’, said Wenders during a talk given at the Biennale, ‘is more landscape than building.’