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Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation
Bats use echolocation through flexible active sensing via ultrasounds to identify environments suitable for their habitat and foraging. Mimicking the sensing strategies of bats for echolocation, this study examined how humans acquire new acoustic-sensing abilities, and proposes effective strategies...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8099053/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33951069 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250517 |
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author | Sumiya, Miwa Ashihara, Kaoru Watanabe, Hiroki Terada, Tsutomu Hiryu, Shizuko Ando, Hiroshi |
author_facet | Sumiya, Miwa Ashihara, Kaoru Watanabe, Hiroki Terada, Tsutomu Hiryu, Shizuko Ando, Hiroshi |
author_sort | Sumiya, Miwa |
collection | PubMed |
description | Bats use echolocation through flexible active sensing via ultrasounds to identify environments suitable for their habitat and foraging. Mimicking the sensing strategies of bats for echolocation, this study examined how humans acquire new acoustic-sensing abilities, and proposes effective strategies for humans. A target geometry identification experiment—involving 15 sighted people without experience of echolocation—was conducted using two targets with different geometries, based on a new sensing system. Broadband frequency-modulated pulses with short inter-pulse intervals (16 ms) were used as a synthetic echolocation signal. Such pulses mimic buzz signals emitted by bats for echolocation prior to capturing their prey. The study participants emitted the signal from a loudspeaker by tapping on Android devices. Because the signal included high-frequency signals up to 41 kHz, the emitted signal and echoes from a stationary or rotating target were recorded using a 1/7-scaled miniature dummy head. Binaural sounds, whose pitch was down-converted, were presented through headphones. This way, time-varying echo information was made available as an acoustic cue for target geometry identification under a rotating condition, as opposed to a stationary one. In both trials, with (i.e., training trials) and without (i.e., test trials) answer feedback immediately after the participants answered, the participants identified the geometries under the rotating condition. Majority of the participants reported using time-varying patterns in terms of echo intensity, timbre, and/or pitch under the rotating condition. The results suggest that using time-varying patterns in echo intensity, timbre, and/or pitch enables humans to identify target geometries. However, performance significantly differed by condition (i.e., stationary vs. rotating) only in the test trials. This difference suggests that time-varying echo information is effective for identifying target geometry through human echolocation especially when echolocators are unable to obtain answer feedback during sensing. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8099053 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80990532021-05-17 Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation Sumiya, Miwa Ashihara, Kaoru Watanabe, Hiroki Terada, Tsutomu Hiryu, Shizuko Ando, Hiroshi PLoS One Research Article Bats use echolocation through flexible active sensing via ultrasounds to identify environments suitable for their habitat and foraging. Mimicking the sensing strategies of bats for echolocation, this study examined how humans acquire new acoustic-sensing abilities, and proposes effective strategies for humans. A target geometry identification experiment—involving 15 sighted people without experience of echolocation—was conducted using two targets with different geometries, based on a new sensing system. Broadband frequency-modulated pulses with short inter-pulse intervals (16 ms) were used as a synthetic echolocation signal. Such pulses mimic buzz signals emitted by bats for echolocation prior to capturing their prey. The study participants emitted the signal from a loudspeaker by tapping on Android devices. Because the signal included high-frequency signals up to 41 kHz, the emitted signal and echoes from a stationary or rotating target were recorded using a 1/7-scaled miniature dummy head. Binaural sounds, whose pitch was down-converted, were presented through headphones. This way, time-varying echo information was made available as an acoustic cue for target geometry identification under a rotating condition, as opposed to a stationary one. In both trials, with (i.e., training trials) and without (i.e., test trials) answer feedback immediately after the participants answered, the participants identified the geometries under the rotating condition. Majority of the participants reported using time-varying patterns in terms of echo intensity, timbre, and/or pitch under the rotating condition. The results suggest that using time-varying patterns in echo intensity, timbre, and/or pitch enables humans to identify target geometries. However, performance significantly differed by condition (i.e., stationary vs. rotating) only in the test trials. This difference suggests that time-varying echo information is effective for identifying target geometry through human echolocation especially when echolocators are unable to obtain answer feedback during sensing. Public Library of Science 2021-05-05 /pmc/articles/PMC8099053/ /pubmed/33951069 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250517 Text en © 2021 Sumiya et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Sumiya, Miwa Ashihara, Kaoru Watanabe, Hiroki Terada, Tsutomu Hiryu, Shizuko Ando, Hiroshi Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title | Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title_full | Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title_fullStr | Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title_short | Effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
title_sort | effectiveness of time-varying echo information for target geometry identification in bat-inspired human echolocation |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8099053/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33951069 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250517 |
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