Inducing visual attention through audiovisual stimuli: Can synchronous sound be a salient event?

We present an experimental research aiming to explore how spatial attention may be biased through auditory stimuli. In particular, we investigate how synchronous sound and image may affect attention and increase the saliency of the audiovisual event. We have designed and implemented an experimental study where subjects, wearing an eye-tracking system, were examined regarding their gaze toward the audiovisual stimuli being displayed. The audiovisual stimuli were specifically tailored for this experiment, consisting of videos contrasting in terms of Synch Points (i.e., moments where a visual event is associated with a visible trigger movement, synchronous with its correspondent sound). While consistency across audiovisual sensory modalities revealed to be an attention-drawing feature, when combined with synchrony, it clearly emphasized the biasing, triggering orienting, that is, focal attention towards the particular scene that contains the Synch Point. Consequently, results revealed synchrony to be a saliency factor, contributing to the strengthening of the focal attention.