Audio drama and the imagination. The influence of sound effects on presence in people with and without sight

Presence describes immersion in a mediated environment such that it seems unmediated. For people with visual impairment, audio description replaces missing visual information with a verbal commentary, transforming an audiovisual medium into audio. Media forms are more or less immersive, with audio-only at the bottom of the scale. Anecdotally, however, pictures are said to be better on radio. Sound effects may contribute by triggering vivid mental images. Yet the role of sound effects on presence has been little explored. The aim of this study was to test the influence of sound effects and visual experience on presence. Participants (N = 73) with full, some, or no sight reported presence levels for a scene from an audio drama presented with or without sound effects. Participants with full vision reported higher levels of ecological and spatial presence for dialogue and sound effects than for dialogue alone. For participants with impaired vision, sound effects made no significant difference to presence levels. This was a small, exploratory study. Sound effects increased two dimensions of presence for those with sight. For blind people, words alone provided a rich imaginative experience. This has positive implications for audio description, which necessitates dipping the soundtrack to insert descriptive commentary. It suggests sound effects have a key role in stimulating presence, but this is dependent on the sensory characteristics of the listener.