The Audio-Corsi: an acoustic virtual reality-based technological solution for evaluating audio-spatial memory abilities
File(s)JMUI-D-20-00100_R3.pdf (4.06 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Setti, Walter
Engel, Isaac Alonso-Martinez
Cuturi, Luigi F
Gori, Monica
Picinali, Lorenzo
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Spatial memory is a cognitive skill that allows the recall of information about the space, its layout, and items’ locations. We present a novel application built around 3D spatial audio technology to evaluate audio-spatial memory abilities. The sound sources have been spatially distributed employing the 3D Tune-In Toolkit, a virtual acoustic simulator. The participants are presented with sequences of sounds of increasing length emitted from virtual auditory sources around their heads. To identify stimuli positions and register the test responses, we designed a custom-made interface with buttons arranged according to sound locations. We took inspiration from the Corsi-Block test for the experimental procedure, a validated clinical approach for assessing visuo-spatial memory abilities. In two different experimental sessions, the participants were tested with the classical Corsi-Block and, blindfolded, with the proposed task, named Audio-Corsi for brevity. Our results show comparable performance across the two tests in terms of the estimated memory parameter precision. Furthermore, in the Audio-Corsi we observe a lower span compared to the Corsi-Block test. We discuss these results in the context of the theoretical relationship between the auditory and visual sensory modalities and potential applications of this system in multiple scientific and clinical contexts.
Date Issued
2021-11-24
Date Acceptance
2021-10-12
Citation
Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, 2021, 16
ISSN
1783-7677
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Journal / Book Title
Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces
Volume
16
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.
Identifier
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12193-021-00383-x
Subjects
0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
0806 Information Systems
1203 Design Practice and Management
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2021-11-24