The influence of visual context on auditory distance perception: A comparison between real and virtual visual environments

• Real visual cues improve auditory distance perception. • Virtual visual cues do not affect auditory distance perception in mixed reality. • Virtual room size does not reliably affect auditory distance estimates. • Audiovisual integration is limited for real sounds in virtual contexts. • Virtual visuals do not replicate real-world multisensory interactions. Previous studies have shown that visual information can improve sound source localization, including auditory distance perception. The present study examined whether this crossmodal benefit is preserved when visual cues are provided by virtual environments rendered through virtual reality technology. Four experiments were conducted using a mixed-reality paradigm in which auditory stimuli were emitted by real sound sources while visual context was manipulated across conditions. Experiment 1 compared ADP in two virtual rooms of different sizes. Experiment 2 established a real-world baseline by contrasting performance in complete darkness with that obtained in the presence of real visual cues. Experiment 3 replicated this design using a virtual replica of the real room, and Experiment 4 tested a larger virtual environment intended to compensate for the known compression of perceived distances in virtual reality. Results showed that real visual information reliably improved auditory distance estimates relative to darkness, replicating previous findings. In contrast, none of the virtual visual environments produced a comparable modulation of ADP, even when the virtual room was perceived as substantially larger. These findings suggest that visual contexts generated in virtual environments do not necessarily engage multisensory mechanisms in the same way as real physical spaces, at least in mixed-reality settings. This highlights the need for caution when using virtual environments to study audiovisual interactions in auditory distance perception.