Selective listening attention enhancement, using a simultaneous visual and haptic stimuli

ABSTRACTWe explore the use of a simultaneous visual and haptic stimulus to increase the selective listening attention. In a psychophysical evaluation, the participants listened to three classical fugues while receiving a non-auditory stimulus synchronized with the notes of a single instrument. Thereafter, the participants (n=30) were asked to self report their listening attention on an instrument highlighted by the non-audio stimulus, while their initial detection and total focus time were measured. Visual-only, haptic-only and visual-haptic stimuli were compared. Regardless the participants' music skills or the instrument register, the visual-haptic stimulus obtained longer selective listening periods and faster detection times.