Frequency and Kansei Evaluation of Tones that Evoke Weight in the Impact Sound of an Object Landing with VR

In virtual reality, it is necessary to clarify what kind of auditory stimuli are effective in presenting a pseudo-haptics sensation through auditory stimulation by cross-modal phenomena. In this study, we varied the pitch of the metallic and wooden sounds produced when a dumbbell impacted the floor. Subjects’ impressions of the impact sound and the weight of the dumbbells were recorded during use of the dumbbells using sensitivity and weight ratings. For both tones, the impressions received from the images containing the sound stimuli were often “quietness”, “intensity”, “vagueness” and “dullness”, suggesting that the reference sound was perceived as heavier when the pitch of the sound containing frequencies below 1 kHz was reduced.