Tactile perception of auditory roughness

Abstract

Auditory roughness resulting of fast temporal beatings is often studied by summing two pure tones with close frequencies. Interestingly, the tactile counterpart of auditory roughness can be provided through touch with vibrotactile actuators. However, whether auditory roughness could also be perceived through touch, and whether they exhibit similar characteristics is unclear. Here, auditory roughness perception and its tactile counterpart were evaluated using similar two pure tones stimuli. Results revealed similar roughness curves in both modalities suggesting similar sensory processing. This study attests of the relevance of such a paradigm for investing auditory and tactile roughness in a multisensory fashion.