SPP 2236 - AUDICTIVE

Influence of visual cues in interactive audiovisual virtual environments on auditory attention decoding and cortical tracking of speech

The project “Influence of visual cues in interactive audiovisual virtual environments on auditory attention decoding and cortical tracking of speech” at the University of Oldenburg led by Prof. Debener and Prof. Hohmann will be based on experimental studies in virtual audiovisual environments. The aim is to understand how healthy people manage to filter out the voice of their current conversation partner from a variety of sound sources. This ability goes beyond just hearing or understanding speech, but requires the ability to control attention adequately. Prof. Hohmann and his team have developed a powerful acoustic stimulation system called TASCAR. This platform provides virtual characters not only with a voice, but also with realistic lip movements. It is also capable of reproducing common everyday conversational situations. To find out how the test subjects control their attention, the team wants to measure the electrical activity in the test persons’ brain with a mobile EEG device developed by Prof. Debener's research group. The aim of the cooperation is to establish mobile EEG technology in VR and, for example, to investigate the visual stimuli that help to direct attention to the desired sound source.