title: Head Tracking of Auditory, Visual, and Audio-Visual Targets.
abstract: The ability to actively follow a moving auditory target with our heads remains unexplored even though it is a common behavioral response. Previous studies of auditory motion perception have focused on the condition where the subjects are passive. The current study examined head tracking behavior to a moving auditory target along a horizontal 100° arc in the frontal hemisphere, with velocities ranging from 20 to 110°/s. By integrating high fidelity virtual auditory space with a high-speed visual presentation we compared tracking responses of auditory targets against visual-only and audio-visual "bisensory" stimuli. Three metrics were measured-onset, RMS, and gain error. The results showed that tracking accuracy (RMS error) varied linearly with target velocity, with a significantly higher rate in audition. Also, when the target moved faster than 80°/s, onset and RMS error were significantly worst in audition the other modalities while responses in the visual and bisensory conditions were statistically identical for all metrics measured. Lastly, audio-visual facilitation was not observed when tracking bisensory targets.
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Johahn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.affiliation: Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carlile
keywords: auditory perception; localization; motion perception; tracking