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The Sound Studies Group is an international academic team dedicated to sound studies across disciplines, regions, and institutions. From theory to practice, it explores all things related to sound. It also operates a Sound Lab in the School of Design, SUSTech Shenzhen.

Hearing Material 

Using Auditory Feedback to Induce Illusions of Material Perception in Virtual Reality


Bocheng Zhong
Seungwoo Je (supervisor)
Marcel Zaes Sagesser (co-supervisor)

This project aims to research auditory pseudo-haptic technology for material perception in virtual reality (VR). The project is divided into three stages:

Stage 1: A PLA-based pressure/motion sensing and dynamic sampling playback prototype—Auditory Materiality (IEEE VR / SIVE 2025);

Stage 2: A more powerful dual-sensor interface (pressure + friction) equipped with three real-time audio algorithms—Hearing Material (IEEE ISMAR 2025);

Stage 3: A material sound synthesizer that can provide a haptic interface and synthesize the sounds of different materials in real time, and can also be used with a low-frequency rendering system to create surround sound.

The goal remains consistent: to allow users to experience different virtual materials through sound while touching the same physical surface. User research shows that pressure-responsive audio modulation can significantly enhance immersion and material realism, even approaching the interactive experience of real materials under optimal conditions.

Publications


  1. B. Zhong, S. Je and M. Z. Sagesser, "Auditory Materiality: Exploring Auditory Effects on Material Perception in Virtual Reality," 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), Saint Malo, France, 2025, pp. 659-662, doi: 10.1109/VRW66409.2025.00136. keywords: {Three-dimensional displays;Piezoelectric transducers;Prototypes;Virtual reality;User interfaces;Virtual museums;Real-time systems;Surface texture;Sensors;Haptic interfaces;Auditory feedback;virtual reality;material perception;auditory illusion;material simulation}

  2. B. Zhong, S. Je and M. Z. Sagesser, "Hearing Material: Using Auditory Feedback to Induce Illusions of Material Perception in Virtual Reality," 2025 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct), Daejeon, Korea, Republic of, 2025, pp. 628-631, doi: 10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct68609.2025.00127. keywords: {Interactive systems;Heuristic algorithms;Software algorithms;Auditory system;Software;Real-time systems;Augmented reality;Microphones;Auditory feedback;virtual reality;material perception;auditory illusion;material simulation},
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