Auditory and audiovisual time-to-collision estimation and road-crossing judgments

Abstract: Pedestrians can only safely cross the road before an approaching vehicle if the time remaining until the vehicle arrives at their position (time-to-collision, TTC) is longer than the time needed for crossing. Using a virtual-reality (VR) system that combines physically plausible acoustic simulations of approaching vehicles with visual simulations, we are investigating how the vehicle sound affects the perception and behavior of pedestrians in a road-crossing situation. In this talk, I will present an overview of our findings. One series of experiments studied effects of vehicle source intensity on TTC estimation and the riskiness of street-crossing decisions, indicating potential risks associated with quieter vehicles. A second series focuses on interactions between pedestrians and accelerating vehicles. When the sound of an accelerating conventional vehicle (ICEV) is presented, this largely removes the inadequate consideration of acceleration observed in visual-only TTC estimation. However, for electric vehicles (EVs) with and without AVAS, this benefit provided by the car sound is significantly reduced compared to ICEVs, and riskier crossing decision are observed. In the third work package, we are studying auditory TTC estimation at a “microscopic” level, using psychophysical reverse correlation, to gain insight into which auditory motion cues are most important for pedestrians’ TTC estimations. I will conclude with a discussion of questions concerning the sound design of modern vehicles raised by our experimental results.

Le mardi 1er octobre 2024 à 11h00 / Amphithéâtre François Canac, LMA

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