Benefits of Multisensory Cues in a Realistic Target Discrimination Task

This study is part of large project aiming at developing brain-computer interfaces capable of enhancing decision-making performance in multisensory environments. In this paper, we present results from an experiment exploring the possibility of increasing accuracy of users engaged in the discrimination of difficult realistic targets, in the presence of multisensory cues. More specifically, in our experiment users are asked to discriminate between targets rapidly appearing in a indoor environment. Auditory or audio-visual cues may precede the target, warning the users about the location of its imminent appearance. Results show that if the timing of the audio-visual cues is right, they can be more effective at preparing users to respond to the imminent target, compared to audio-only cues, thereby increasing user performance.