An Acoustic Variable Specifying Time-to-Contact

Shaw, Brian K.; McGowan, Richard S.; Turvey, M. T.

doi:10.1207/s15326969eco0303_4

Cited by 96 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Notably, while the looming auditory warnings were just as effective as the symbolic car horn warnings in term of reducing BRTs, significantly fewer false alarm responses to unreliable warnings (i.e., catch trials) were observed. These findings suggest that auditory looming warnings might be used to convey TTC and/or urgency information that is inherent in the signals themselves (see also Shaw, McGowan, & Turvey, 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Looming Auditory and Vibrotactile Collision Warning for Safe Driving

Spence

Gray

2013

Proceedings of the 7th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design : Dr

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Summary:Looming auditory warning signals (that is, signals whose intensity increases over time) have proven to be particularly effective in terms of reducing a driver's brake reaction times (BRTs) to impending collisions, and are also associated with very low false alarm rates. We report two experiments designed to further investigate how the presentation of looming auditory warnings with increasing frequency or increasing spatial extent would compare to those with increasing intensity. A third experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the potential efficacy of presenting looming warnings to drivers in another modality, namely via vibrotactile signals. Participants' speeded BRTs to potential collision events following the presentation of various warning signals in a simulated car following scenario were measured. While both looming frequency and spatial warnings were effective in terms of speeding the driver's responses to critical driving events, the magnitude of the benefit resembled that of a typical nonlooming constant intensity warning. Looming intensity warnings outperformed their looming frequency counterparts in terms of facilitating drivers' collision avoidance responses. As for vibrotactile warnings, the results revealed that looming vibrotactile stimuli did not offer any additional benefits over and above the other non-looming vibrations tested in the study. The implications of these findings for collision warning systems design are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Looming Auditory and Vibrotactile Collision Warning for Safe Driving

Spence

Gray

2013

Proceedings of the 7th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design : Dr

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“…The sound pressure of the auditory object as a function of its relative distance from the listener followed an inverse law, with a loss of approximately 6 dB (20 log 10 2) in sound pressure for each doubling of distance (Zahorik, 2002). Thus, information about the TTC of the auditory object was available in terms of the τ-like ratio I t ð Þ= ⋅ I t ð Þ, where I(t) is the instantaneous acoustic intensity at time t, and ⋅ I t ð Þ is the derivative of I(t) with respect to time (Shaw et al, 1991). As in the visual condition, the sound of the car stopped before arriving at the participant's location (i.e., before virtual collision).…”

Section: Apparatus and Stimulimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is known that individuals can use auditory information alone to make TTC estimates and that blind individuals can use acoustical TTC information with accuracy comparable to sighted individuals' abilities to use visual TTC information (Schiff & Oldak, 1990). In the auditory domain, accurate TTC information is reliably provided about objects travelling on a straight path at a constant velocity by a τ-like ratio of the objects' instantaneous acoustic intensity to its instantaneous rate of change in intensity (Jenison, 1997;Shaw, McGowan, & Turvey, 1991). This is often referred to as auditory τ.…”

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confidence: 99%

Estimating the relative weights of visual and auditory tau versus heuristic-based cues for time-to-contact judgments in realistic, familiar scenes by older and younger adults

Keshavarz

Campos

DeLucia

et al. 2017

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Estimating time to contact (TTC) involves multiple sensory systems, including vision and audition. Previous findings suggested that the ratio of an object's instantaneous optical size/sound intensity to its instantaneous rate of change in optical size/sound intensity (τ) drives TTC judgments. Other evidence has shown that heuristic-based cues are used, including final optical size or final sound pressure level. Most previous studies have used decontextualized and unfamiliar stimuli (e.g., geometric shapes on a blank background). Here we evaluated TTC estimates by using a traffic scene with an approaching vehicle to evaluate the weights of visual and auditory TTC cues under more realistic conditions. Younger (18-39 years) and older (65+ years) participants made TTC estimates in three sensory conditions: visual-only, auditory-only, and audio-visual. Stimuli were presented within an immersive virtual-reality environment, and cue weights were calculated for both visual cues (e.g., visual τ, final optical size) and auditory cues (e.g., auditory τ, final sound pressure level). The results demonstrated the use of visual τ as well as heuristic cues in the visual-only condition. TTC estimates in the auditory-only condition, however, were primarily based on an auditory heuristic cue (final sound pressure level), rather than on auditory τ. In the audio-visual condition, the visual cues dominated overall, with the highest weight being assigned to visual τ by younger adults, and a more equal weighting of visual τ and heuristic cues in older adults. Overall, better characterizing the effects of combined sensory inputs, stimulus characteristics, and age on the cues used to estimate TTC will provide important insights into how these factors may affect everyday behavior.

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“…In addition, it is clear from recent experimental work that sensory systems other than vision can playa role in TTC perception (Rosenblum, Wuestefeld, & Saldana, 1993;Schiff & Oldak, 1990;Tresilian, 1994a;see also, Heuer, 1993;Lee, 1992;Shaw, McGowan, & Turvey, 1991;Tresilian, 1990). In response to these findings, I have developed what I will call the revised tau hypothesis, which preserves Proposition B of the older version but replaces Proposition A with an alternative that may be briefly stated as follows: The basic information-processing structure of this hypothesis is shown in Figure 1 (right panel).…”

Section: The Revised Version Ofthe Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual and cognitive processes in time-to-contact estimation: Analysis of prediction-motion and relative judgment tasks

Tresilian

1995

Perception & Psychophysics

258

298

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Three classes of task appear to involve time-to-contact (TTC) information: coincidence anticipation (CA)tasks, relative judgment (RJ) tasks, and interceptive actions (lAs). An important type of CA task used to study the perception of TTCis the prediction-motion (PM) task. The question of whether it is possible to study the perceptual processes involved in the timing of lAs using PM and RJ tasks is considered. Arevised version of the tau hypothesis is proposed as an account of the perceptual information processing involved in the control of fast lAs. This draws on the distinction between "motor" and "cognitive"visual systems. It is argued that task variables affect whether "cognitive" information processing is involved in performance and can determine whether TTCinformation is used at all. Evidence is reviewed that suggests that PM and RJ tasks involve cognitive processing. It is argued that target viewing time, TTC at response initiation, amount of practice, and whether there is a period between target disappearance and response are task variables that determine whether cognitive processing will influence responding.

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An Acoustic Variable Specifying Time-to-Contact

Cited by 96 publications

References 6 publications

Looming Auditory and Vibrotactile Collision Warning for Safe Driving

Looming Auditory and Vibrotactile Collision Warning for Safe Driving

Estimating the relative weights of visual and auditory tau versus heuristic-based cues for time-to-contact judgments in realistic, familiar scenes by older and younger adults

Perceptual and cognitive processes in time-to-contact estimation: Analysis of prediction-motion and relative judgment tasks

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