Spatial Multisensory Cueing to Support Visual Target-Acquisition Performance

Abstract

The impact of spatial multisensory cues on target-acquisition performance was examined. Response times (RTs) obtained in the absence of spatial cues were compared to those obtained when tactile, auditory, or audiotactile cues indicated the target location. Visual scene complexity was manipulated by varying the number of visual distractors present. The results indicated that all these spatial cues effectively reduced RTs. The benefit of cueing was greater when more distractors were present and when targets were presented from more eccentric locations. Although the benefit was greatest for conditions containing auditory cues, tactile cues alone had a large benefit. No apparent advantage of audiotactile cues over auditory cues was observed, suggesting that the auditory cues provided sufficient information to support performance. Future research will explore whether audiotactile cues are more helpful when the auditory cues are degraded (e.g., when presented in noisy environments or in generic virtual auditory displays).