3D audio cueing for target identification in a simulated flight task

Effects of Visual and Auditory Cues About Threat Location on Target Acquisition and Attention to Auditory Communications

“…On the average, target acquisition times were 1 second faster (15 %) in the visual and 3-D audio modes than they were in the spatial language condition. These findings are similar to those of Simpson et al (2004) who did not present any concurrent verbal communications that could potentially interfere with the perception of the verbal cues about target location. Therefore, it is believed that the difference in target acquisition time between the spatial language condition and the visual and 3-D audio modes may be attributable to other factors.…”

“…First, the 1-second delay in target acquisition in the spatial language mode may have been influenced by the structure of the verbal cue. As in the study by Simpson et al (2004), words that defined the location of the target were presented in the latter half of the cue, preceded by a verbal alert (e.g., "Target --9 o'clock" or "Traffic --9 o'clock high"). A 1-second delay in the receipt of information about the location of a target might be expected to result in a similar delay in the time to acquire the target.…”

“…Auditory cues might be presented verbally in spatial language (e.g., "5 o'clock") or in 3-D audio sounds that appear to emanate from the location of the target in space. Research on collision avoidance in aircraft have found reductions in target acquisition times and perceived workload when target location cues were provided in 3-D audio (Begault, 1993;Simpson, Brungart, Gilkey, Cowgill, Dallman, Green et al, 2004) or when 3-D audio and visual cues were paired (Tannen, 2001). Other studies on target cueing for navigation have found that distance perception was more accurate when cues were provided visually than auditorily (Loomis, Klatsky, Philbeck, & Golledge, 1998), and that directional errors were greater when cues were provided in spatial language than when they were provided in 3-D audio (Loomis, Lippa, Klatzky, & Golledge, 2002).…”