ABSTRACT
Auditory processing is often given minimal attention when designing virtual environments (VEs) or simulations. This lack of attention is unfortunate, because auditory cues play a crucial role in everyday life. Auditory cues increase awareness of surroundings, cue visual attention, and convey a variety of complex information without taxing the visual system. The entertainment industry has long recognized the importance of sound to create ambience and emotion, aspects that are often lacking in virtual environments. In short, placing someone in a virtual world with an improperly designed auditory interface is equivalent to creating a “virtual” hearing impairment for the user.
