Hearing silent shapes: Identifying the shape of a sound occluding surface

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2005-04, Vol.117 (4_Supplement), p.2596-2596
• Main Authors: Robart, Ryan L., Rosenblum, Lawrence D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4777471

While most psychoacoustics is concerned with perception of sound sources, there is evidence that surfaces which reflect or occlude sound can also be detected and can guide behavior [e.g., M. S. Gordon and L. D. Rosenblum, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 2851 (2000)]. While there is also evidence that listeners can hear the shape of sound reflecting surfaces [e.g., C. E. Rice, Science 155, 655–664 (1967)], it is not known whether the shape of sound occluding surfaces can be heard. In a series of experiments, blindfolded listeners were asked to judge the shape of surfaces (of equal area) which occluded a set of loudspeakers emitting white noise. Overall, listeners were successful at this task, with some listeners showing near perfect performance. Follow-up experiments examined the acoustic information supportive of this skill. The findings suggest a type of auditory sensitivity not often considered in the psychoacoustics literature.