Volume 6, Number 3, Article 6, Pages 260-268 doi:10.1167/6.3.6 http://journalofvision.org/6/3/6/ ISSN 1534-7362
Perceptual synchrony of audiovisual streams for natural and artificial motion sequences
Roberto Arrighi
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata (INOA), Firenze, Largo E. Fermi 6, Italy
[e-mail]
David Alais
Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Institute for Biomedical Research, School of Medical Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
[e-mail]
David Burr
Istituto di Neuroscienze del CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, Pisa, Italy
[home] [e-mail]
Abstract

We investigated the conditions necessary for perceptual simultaneity of visual and auditory stimuli under natural conditions: video sequences of conga drumming at various rhythms. Under most conditions, the auditory stream needs to be delayed for sight and sound to be perceived simultaneously. The size of delay for maximum perceived simultaneity varied inversely with drumming tempo, from about 100 ms at 1 Hz to 30 ms at 4 Hz. Random drumming motion produced similar results, with higher random tempos requiring less delay. Video sequences of disk stimuli moving along a motion profile matched to the drummer produced near-identical results. When the disks oscillated at constant speed rather than following “biological” speed variations, the delays necessary for perceptual synchrony were systematically less. The results are discussed in terms of real-world constraints for perceptual synchrony and possible neural mechanisms.

View full-text

History
Received June 6, 2005; published March 16, 2006
Citation
Arrighi, R., Alais, D., & Burr, D. (2006). Perceptual synchrony of audiovisual streams for natural and artificial motion sequences. Journal of Vision, 6(3):6, 260-268, http://journalofvision.org/6/3/6/, doi:10.1167/6.3.6.
Keywords
audiovisual temporal alignments, biological motion
Downloads
631 Total; 0.534 /day (DemandFactor)
 
Search
for articles that cite this paper
for related articles by these authors
for papers that cite this paper
Get citation






jov