2006 Volume 42 Issue 2 Pages 119-125
The effect of ambient sound conditions on the performance of blindfolded pedestrians to judge direction while walking in a straight line was tested. Subjects were exposed to three different ambient sound conditions while walking in the first experiment. White noise was emitted from one of two loudspeakers placed on the walls of the laboratory half way down path the pedestrians were required to walk down in two out of three conditions. In the other experimental condition, no sound was emitted from the speakers. Twelve blindfolded male subjects aged 21 to 50 years old, were asked to determine the initial walking direction using one of three cues, a sound (white noise), tactile tiles or a wall, at the starting point before walking down the path. Subjects were then asked to walk in a straight line under each ambient sound condition. In experiment 2, the same sound and tactile tiles as were used in experiment 1 were employed as cues for indicating the initial walking direction. The ambient sound conditions were also the same as those used in experiment 1 except that they differed in intensity (high/low). Thirteen blindfolded male subjects aged 21 to 51 years old participated in the experiment.
Both experiments revealed that exposure to ambient sound had the effect of causing subjects to veer significantly from their paths in a direction that was opposite to the source of the sound. Veering from the path was directly proportional to intensity of the ambient sound. Cues for the initial walking direction had no significant effect on the subjects' paths, but the tendency to veer from paths was greater for the auditory cue compared to the tactile cues.
