Active artificial echolocation and the nonvisual perception of aperture passability

The potential of airborne sonar to provide effective information about three-dimensional (3D) spatial layouts was assessed in four companion experiments. Blindfolded participants, never given visual access to the layout of a large room, were asked to use a sonar device whose output they had never previously encountered to judge the passability (by normal walking) of apertures between two aligned wall panels. Estimates were made from fixed and variable locations, approaches to the apertures were made from orthogonal and oblique angles, and the panels were at different distances and orientations. In each experiment, participants gave evidence of an ability to immediately use the information in structured echoes to make these judgments, though aperture location, approach angles, wall alignment and orientation each had significant effects on performance. The data are compared with performance under visual and nonechoic auditory conditions and are discussed with respect to the notions of potential information and effective information during these perceptually guided tasks.