Perceptual Recognition of Sound Trajectories in Space

• Published in: Computer music journal 2021-03, Vol.45 (1), p.39-54
• Main Authors: Schumacher, Federico, Espinoza, Vicente, Mardones, Francisca, Vergara, Rodrigo, Aránguiz, Alberto, Aguilera, Valentina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Auditory stimuli; Computer & video games; Sound localization; Sound tracks; Visual stimuli
• ISSN: 0148-9267; 1531-5169
• DOI: 10.1162/comj_a_00593

Sound spatialization is a technique used in various musical genres as well as in soundtrack production for films and video games. In this context, specialized software has been developed for the design of sound trajectories we have classified as (1) basic movements, or image schemas of spatial movement; and (2) archetypal geometric figures. Our contribution is to reach an understanding of how we perceive the movement of sound in space as a result of the interaction between an agent's or listener's sensory-motor characteristics and the morphological characteristics of the stimuli and the acoustic space where such interaction occurs. An experiment was designed involving listening to auditory stimuli and associating them with the aforementioned spatial movement categories. The results suggest that in most cases, the ability to recognize moving sound is hindered when there are no visual stimuli present. Moreover, they indicate that archetypal geometric figures are rarely perceived as such and that the perception of sound movements in space can be organized into three spatial dimensions—height, depth, and width—which the literature on sound localization also confirms.