Spatial sound navigation

In VR, navigation by sound can be a new and interesting new way to guide and navigate users through virtual environments. However, the impact of different movement types on navigation by sound has not been thoroughly studied. This question might be quite important as many users are experiencing VR seated as there is often not enough space. Current literature seems to indicate that there is a strong connection between our ability to localize sounds and proprioceptive information from one's own bodies. We have therefore hypothesized that our ability to navigate by sound will be hindered when we lack information about one's own movement.

In order to test our hypothesis, we created a version of the Morris water maze, in which participants search for a hidden goal area while being surrounded by spatial audio from three different sources. Participants are required to memorize the location of the goal area in relation to the audio sources and then repeatedly locate it from different starting positions. The participants were completing this task in three different styles of movement, each with varying levels of information about their own movements.

We have successfully completed testing on 32 participants and the project is now in the stage of analyzing results, with preliminary results showing there was not as strong an impact by loss of proprioceptive information as expected. More results are soon to be added.