Multimodal approach for the analysis of the stimulus properties that affect audiovisual integration

Multisensory integration attracts researchers from various disciplines. They are interested in understanding how integrating information conveyed by the different senses changes behaviour and perception. With the recent development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology, which allows high customisation and control of the environment and high accessibility in terms of cost and portability, much research is focusing on its use for rehabilitation. The wide interest in this technology introduces the need to investigate further what this technology can provide in terms of multisensory integration and whether we can replace the classical research method in this field. With the collaboration of the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, we designed a simple audiovisual localisation experiment performed in VR using Matlab, specifically Psychtoolbox. The experiment results describe behaviour similar to the one shown in the literature. Furthermore, they provide evidence of the limitations of the current setup, which will be improved in future studies. Furthermore, they highlight the essential improvements VR technology can bring to multisensory integration research and rehabilitation protocols.