Distance judgement in individuals with vision and hearing loss.

Authors

Rui Jin, Diamond Brunt, Don Fletcher, Joseph Paul Nemargut, Yingzi Xiong

Published in

Scientific reports. Jul 08, 2026. Epub Jul 08, 2026.

Abstract

Distance judgement is essential for safe navigation. People with vision loss (VL) increasingly rely on hearing for distance judgement. However, it is unclear how well auditory cues compensate for visual deficits, especially in those with additional hearing loss (dual sensory loss, DSL). This study evaluated the visual, auditory and audiovisual distance judgement in VL and DSL, by both verbally estimating and walking to remembered target locations. Fifty adults (16 controls, 19 VL, 15 DSL) estimated the distances of visual, auditory, and audiovisual targets across six distances (0.9-5.4 m) in a normal acoustic room, by verbally report the distances or walk to the perceived locations. The visual stimuli were flashing red lights. The auditory stimuli were pulsing tones. Accuracy was measured with root mean squared error, and bias was assessed by regression slopes between actual and estimated distances. In our task, visual judgement remained accurate among VL and DSL participants, matching controls. Auditory estimates showed greater errors and biases for all groups, especially for DSL. With audiovisual cues, the VL and DSL groups performed worse than using vision alone. The agreement between verbal reports and walking responses were strong for visual and audiovisual conditions (r² > 0.80) but weak for the auditory condition (r² < 0.37). For individuals with VL or DSL, vision may remain a more robust sense for distance judgment. Auditory distance judgement in our study showed greater errors, which increased in those with hearing loss. For the VL and DSL groups, audiovisual performance can be poorer than vision alone, possibly due to insufficient integration or overreliance on hearing. Verbal reports are valid proxies for walking responses in visual distance judgement but not for auditory localization. Measuring the relative strengths of vision and hearing is crucial for developing individualized strategies to support distance judgment in individuals with sensory loss.

PMID:
42420373
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Jul 2026.

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