Illusions, auditory

Definition: Auditory illusions occurs when the listener hears sounds that are not present in the stimulus and our brain organizes and interprets sensory stimulation producing a distortion of a sensory perception. It is possible to distinguish between classical examples of auditory illusions and the illusions that emerge because of the interplay of audition with multisensory perception. Auditory illusions can be then taken into account in designing Enactive Interfaces for their possible creative uses. A good parallel can be drawn with visual illusions, often used by hyper realistic painting (e.g. the image of a mirror without the painter that is painting it, etc.). Auditory illusions in an immersive, enactive environment can be made to be much more striking than in a usual one because an immersive environment allows to enhance the cooperation between modalities. The interaction between hearing, vision and haptics can be tightly controlled in such an environment and the cooperation between these modalities can therefore be increased or decreased at will.