Immersive audio technologies require personalized binaural synthesis through headphones to provide perceptually plausible virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) simulations. We introduce and apply for the first time in VR contexts the quantitative measure called premotor reaction time (pmRT) for characterizing sonic interactions between humans and the technology through motor planning. In the proposed basic virtual acoustic scenario, listeners are asked to react to a virtual sound approaching from different directions and stopping at different distances within their peripersonal space (PPS). PPS is highly sensitive to embodied and environmentally situated interactions, anticipating the motor system activation for a prompt preparation for action. Since immersive VR applications benefit from spatial interactions, modeling the PPS around the listeners is crucial to reveal individual behaviors and performances. Our methodology centered around the pmRT is able to provide a compact description and approximation of the spatiotemporal PPS processing and boundaries around the head by replicating several well-known neurophysiological phenomena related to PPS, such as auditory asymmetry, front/back calibration and confusion, and ellipsoidal action fields.


    Access

    Download


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Shaping the auditory peripersonal space with motor planning in immersive virtual reality



    Publication date :

    2023-01-01



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    DDC:    629




    An immersive virtual reality system for ecological assessment of peripersonal and extrapersonal unilateral spatial neglect

    Perez-Marcos, Daniel / Ronchi, Roberta / Giroux, Arthur et al. | BASE | 2023

    Free access

    Eye-Tracking Beyond Peripersonal Space in Virtual Reality : Validation and Best Practices

    Lamb, Maurice / Brundin, Malin / Perez Luque, Estela et al. | BASE | 2022

    Free access

    Active peripersonal space for more intuitive HRI

    Holthaus, Patrick / Wachsmuth, Sven | IEEE | 2012


    Modeling peripersonal action space for virtual humans using touch and proprioception

    Nguyen, Nhung / Wachsmuth, Ipke / Ruttkay, Zsofia et al. | BASE | 2009

    Free access