Tactile localization of sounds: Acuity, tracking moving sources, and selective attention

Abstract

Most attempts to design artificial ears have concentrated on displaying frequency information to the skin of deaf subjects in the hope that they may recognize complex patterns of sounds and thus have some ’’auditory function’’ restored. The problem from a practical standpoint is that simultaneously occurring sounds that originate from different sources are difficult if not impossible to unscramble. In normal audition, auditory localization not only enables subjects to perceive the locus of origin of sounds with a high degree of accuracy, but also appears to be the most important determinant of selective auditory attention. The three experiments reported in this paper demonstrate first of all that tactile sound localization is possible with an accuracy that approaches normal audition, and secondly that subjects can track moving sound sources. Finally, an analog of selective auditory attention was found by using tactile localization. These experiments show the utility of incorporating a localization unit in future designs of artificial ears for the completely deaf. Subject Classification: [43]65.62, [43]65.70.