How Does the Fusion of Sensory Information From Audition and Vision Impact Collective Behavior?

Abstract

The present study investigates how combined information from audition and vision impacts group-level behavior. We consider a modification to the original Vicsek model that allows individuals to use auditory and visual sensing modalities to gather information from neighbors in order to update their heading directions. Moreover, in this model, the information from visual and auditory cues can be weighed differently. In a simulation study, we examine the sensitivity of the emergent group-level behavior to the weights that are assigned to each sense modality in this weighted composite model. Our findings suggest combining sensory cues may play an important role in the collective behavior and results from the composite model indicate that the group-level features from pure audition predominate.

Inferring the roles of individuals in collective systems using information-theoretic measures of influence

“…A modified VM, proposed in [23], deviates from the assumption of agents sharing uniform interaction domains. In this model, an agent influences the motion of another agent only when the former is located inside the interaction domain of the latter, which is similar to models of auditory sensing in bats [24]. Hence, an agent with a larger interaction radius is more susceptible to external influences from other agents in the system than an agent with a shorter interaction radius.…”