Acoustic scene complexity affects motion behavior during speech perception in audio-visual multi-talker virtual...

Area of Science:

• Auditory perception
• Human movement behavior
• Acoustic scene analysis

Background:

• Real-world listening involves head and eye movements to enhance sensory information.
• Specific movement patterns during acoustic scene exploration are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how acoustic scene complexity influences head and eye movement behavior during speech comprehension and localization.
• To characterize movement patterns in response to varying reverberation and number of concurrent talkers.

Main Methods:

• Thirteen normal-hearing participants performed a speech comprehension and localization task in virtual audio-visual scenes.
• Acoustic scenes were manipulated for complexity by varying reverberation and the number of concurrent talkers.
• Head and eye movements were tracked during the task.

Main Results:

• Delayed initial head movements were observed with increased numbers of simultaneous talkers.
• Reverberation and more talkers prolonged the search period, increased fixated locations, and led to more gaze jumps.
• Response times increased with more talkers, and head position at decision differed in reverberant scenes.

Conclusions:

• Acoustic scene complexity significantly impacts listener behavior during speech comprehension and localization.
• Head and eye movement strategies adapt to environmental complexity to aid auditory information gathering.
• Findings highlight the interplay between auditory scene characteristics and sensorimotor behaviors for effective listening.