Effects of reduced vision on sound perception

What happens to hearing when vision is lost? Our work focuses on vision and hearing, exploring how spatial hearing abilities change following visual loss.

Working in collaboration with Professor Brian Moore of Cambridge University, we are investigating how humans use sound information to locate objects and perceive the environment. In collaboration with Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Chennai, India, we are investigating the effects of blindness and low vision on perceived sound distance, and how different severities of visual loss affect auditory perception.

We're also examining how humans use sound to create an internal map of their surroundings in collaboration with the Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy, and testing human echolocation abilities and sensory substitution devices that provide information about room layout using sound for safe navigation.

Professor Shahina Pardhan
Professor Brian Moore (University of Cambridge)
Dr Silvia Cirstea
Dr Andrew J Kolarik
Elena Altobelli