Perceptual Evaluation of Sound Trajectories in Space

Sound spatialization is a technique utilized in diverse musical genres as well as in soundtrack production for films and videogames. In this context, specialized software have been developed which allow for the design of sound trajectories that we have classified as (a) basic movements or Image Schemas of Spatial Movement and (b) archetypal geometric figures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the perceptual recognition of some of these sound trajectories. An experiment was designed which consisted in listening to auditory stimuli and associating them to the mentioned categories of spatial movement. The results suggest that, in most cases, the ability to recognize moving sound is hindered when there are no visual stimuli present. Moreover, the results indicate that archetypal geometric figures are rarely perceived as such, and that the perception of sound movement in space can be organized in three spatial dimensions, Height, Depth and Width, as the literature on sound localization also confirms.