Basic properties of distantly-presented bone-conduction perception

Since a vibrator needs to be pressed onto the osseous parts of the head, bone-conduction (BC) is often accompanied by pain and esthetic problems. In order to solve these problems, "distant presentation" has been proposed. In the distant presentation, vibrators are presented to the neck, upper limb or trunk. Our previous studies focused on the perception and propagation characteristics of distantly-presented BC sound in the ultrasonic range and an application to a novel audio-interface. On the other hand, a limited number of studies have been conducted on distantly-presented BC in the audible-frequency range. In this study, to examine the basic properties of the distantly-presented BC perception in the audible-frequency range, hearing thresholds, difference limens for frequency (DLFs) and temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) were measured under the condition that AC sounds were insulated sufficiently. The results obtained indicated that BC sounds can be clearly perceived at distal parts of the body even in the audible-frequency range and no significant degradation of frequency and temporal information occurs in the propagation process in the body.