Measuring the Behavioral Response to Spatial Audio within a Multi-Modal Virtual Reality Environment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Measuring the Behavioral Response to Spatial Audio within a Multi-Modal Virtual Reality Environment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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DOI：
10.3390/app9153152
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发表时间：
2019-08-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Kearney, Gavin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Johnston, Daniel;Egermann, Hauke;Kearney, Gavin
二十多年来，虚拟现实 (VR) 一直是为自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 患者开发交互式干预措施的活跃研究领域。这些沉浸式环境创建了一个安全的平台，治疗可以解决与这种情况相关的核心症状。 VR 空间音频渲染技术的最新进展现在允许创建与视觉对应物精确匹配的逼真音频环境。然而，据报道，与自闭症相关的听觉处理障碍可能会影响个人与其虚拟治疗应用程序的互动方式。本研究旨在调查处理音频信息的这些困难是否会直接影响自闭症患者如何与呈现的虚拟空间音频环境互动。对被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的参与者 (n = 29) 进行了两项实验，比较：(1) 空间化和非空间化音频之间的行为反应； (2)背景噪音对参与者互动的影响。聆听基于双耳的空间音频的参与者对目标听觉事件表现出更高的空间注意力。此外，据报道，竞争背景音频的数量会影响空间注意力和交互。这些发现表明，尽管存在相关的感觉处理困难，自闭症谱系障碍患者仍可以正确解码当前空间音频渲染技术中模拟的听觉线索。
Virtual Reality (VR) has been an active area of research in the development of interactive interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for over two decades. These immersive environments create a safe platform in which therapy can address the core symptoms associated with this condition. Recent advancements in spatial audio rendering techniques for VR now allow for the creation of realistic audio environments that accurately match their visual counterparts. However, reported auditory processing impairments associated with autism may affect how an individual interacts with their virtual therapy application. This study aims to investigate if these difficulties in processing audio information would directly impact how individuals with autism interact with a presented virtual spatial audio environment. Two experiments were conducted with participants diagnosed with ASD (n = 29) that compared: (1) behavioral reaction between spatialized and non-spatialized audio; and (2) the effect of background noise on participant interaction. Participants listening to binaural-based spatial audio showed higher spatial attention towards target auditory events. In addition, the amount of competing background audio was reported to influence spatial attention and interaction. These findings suggest that despite associated sensory processing difficulties, those with ASD can correctly decode the auditory cues simulated in current spatial audio rendering techniques.