Measuring Motor Planning Using an Affordable Sound-Based Virtual Reality Setup for Accessible Perception-Action Studies

The recent availability of consumer head-mounted displays (HMDs) for virtual reality (VR) provides an immersive and affordable platform to study sound perception and action outside laboratory settings. While traditional perception-action studies rely on complex systems like motion capture, HMDs integrate dynamic sound delivery and real-time movement tracking. In this study, we adapted the experimental protocol from Geronazzo et al. (2023) to test the feasibility of measuring user behaviour with a consumer-grade HMD. Instead of muscular activity measured from surface electromyography, we analysed reaction times using kinematic data from the HMD’s onboard sensors and controllers. Data from ten participants showed that spatial properties of looming sounds influence auditory perception-action loops, aligning with findings from the original study. Our results demonstrate that reaction time is a scalable and meaningful measure for studying space perception through sound, providing a possible alternative to muscular activity measurements and showcasing the potential of consumer-grade VR for accessible and robust experimental research despite current limitations.