Spatial-hearing ability has been found to vary widely across listeners. A survey of the existing auditory-space perception literature suggests that three main types of factors may account for this variability: - physical factors, e.g., acoustical characteristics related to sound-localization cues, - perceptual factors, e.g., sensory/cognitive processing, perceptual learning, multisensory interactions, - and methodological factors, e.g., differences in stimulus presentation methods across studies. However, the extent to which these–and perhaps other, still unidentified—factors actually contribute to the observed variability in spatial hearing across individuals with normal hearing or within special populations (e.g., hearing-impaired listeners) remains largely unknown. Likewise, the role of perceptual learning and multisensory interactions in the emergence of a multimodal but unified representation of “auditory space,” is still an active topic of research. A better characterization and understanding of the determinants of inter-individual variability in spatial hearing, and of its relationship with perceptual learning and multisensory interactions, would have numerous benefits. In particular, it would enhance the design of rehabilitative devices and of human-machine interfaces involving auditory, or multimodal space perception, such as virtual auditory/multimodal displays in aeronautics, or navigational aids for the visually impaired. For this Research Topic, we have considered manuscripts that: - present new methods, or review existing methods, for the study of inter-individual differences; - present new data (or review existing) data, concerning acoustical features relevant for explaining inter-individual differences in sound-localization performance; - present new (or review existing) psychophysical or neurophysiological findings concerning spatial hearing and/or auditory perceptual learning, and/or multisensory interactions in humans (normal or impaired, young or older listeners) or other species; - discuss the influence of inter-individual differences on the design and use of assistive listening devices (rehabilitation) or human-machine interfaces involving spatial hearing or multimodal perception of space (ergonomy).

This open access book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments.

Auditory archaeology considers the potential contribution of everyday, mundane and unintentional sounds in the past and how these may have been significant to people. Steve Mills explores ways of examining evidence to identify intentionality with respect to the use of sound, drawing on perception psychology as well as soundscape and landscape studies of various kinds. His methodology provides a flexible and widely applicable set of elements that can be adapted for use in a broad range of archaeological and heritage contexts. The outputs of this research form the case studies of the Teleorman River Valley in Romania, Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and West Penwith, a historical site in the UK.This fascinating volume will help archaeologists and others studying human sensory experiences in the past and present.

Behavioral, language, and reasoning are expressions of neural functions par excellence, as the brain must draw on sensory modalities to gather information on the rest of the body and on the outer world. Cortical areas processing the identity and location of the sensory inputs were once thought to be organized, with some branches dedicated to complex features. Yet current studies have uncovered synergistic effects at early-stage cognitions as well as higher-level association areas. A less hierarchical functional architecture of the brain has emerged such that, irrespective of sensory modality, inputs are assigned to the best suited cortical substrate.

Vols. for 1963- include as pt. 2 of the Jan. issue: Medical subject headings.

We would like to acknowledge VCCA2020-Organizer Jan-Willem Wasmann, who has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic. Dr. Qinglin Meng is working on an audio project for Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Dr. Jing Chen is working on research projects with Sonova AG. Dr. Fan-Gang Zeng owns stock in Axonics, Nurotron, Syntiant, Velox and Xsense. Dr. Dennis Barbour founded and owns equity in Bonauria. All other Topic Editor declare no conflicts of interest.