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Updated: Jul 24, 2026
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Published on: July 1, 2018
Localization of virtual sound at 4 Gz.
Patrick M B Sandor1, Ken I McAnally, Lionel Pellieux
1Institut de Médecine Aérospatiale du Service de Santé des Armées, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France. pmb_sandor@imassa.fr
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
|March 4, 2005
Summary
Increased G-force (Gz) does not significantly affect sound localization accuracy. Auditory spatial perception remains reliable in dynamic environments, unlike visual perception which is prone to the elevator illusion.
Area of Science:
- Human factors engineering
- Auditory perception
- Aerospace medicine
Background:
- Linear acceleration along the z-axis (Gz) causes visual misperception (elevator illusion) due to coordinate transformation errors.
- This study investigates if Gz also affects the perception of sound source location.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if increased Gz affects auditory spatial localization.
- To assess the reliability of auditory spatial information in dynamic environments.
Main Methods:
- Subjects performed visually guided sound localization using a laser pointer under 1 Gz and 4 Gz in a human centrifuge.
- Horizon judgments were measured to account for Gz-induced visual perception errors.
Main Results:
- Horizon judgments decreased at 4 Gz compared to 1 Gz.
- After correcting for visual errors, sound localization accuracy and bias were not significantly affected by increased Gz.
Conclusions:
- Auditory spatial localization is robust to increased Gz.
- The auditory modality offers reliable spatial information for operators in high-G environments.
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