Maybe too obvious, but alarms or warnings are usually audible. Most are probably both audible and visual, but the audible part is what alerts most people.
Medical staff taking blood pressure measurements use both audible and visual information, and sound is used to examine heart and lung functions (and rarely in joint problems).
The vast majority of car/truck engine stalls are detected by (lack of) sound. With the real quiet hybrids, it can be difficult knowing when the engine is on.
Also, various kinds of buttons/keys in all kinds of applications give an audible ‘click’ feedback when they’ve been pressed enough to be activated.
My husband works with aircraft simulators, specifically as a sound engineer. During development of a new sound model, it is often tested with Type Rated pilots, and it’s amazing the sounds they’ll pick up or notice are slightly different. He has a recurring problem on one simulator with multiple pilots claiming the windshield wipers don’t sound right… but the sound model matches the original recordings (done twice!) exactly. The pilots even think a straight playback of the recording isn’t correct, so now they think it’s actually something else somewhere else in the cockpit that only becomes noticeable when the wipers are running. It’s an impressive job! He also once had an airline request the addition of the lavatory fan to the sound model, because not hearing it before the engines ramped up disturbed some pilots!
Safecrackers work by sound, the best of them by touch. None by sight (well, except those who’ll drill into the safe and put a camera in there, but that’s cheating, and it destroys the safe in the process. It’s not even an option in modern safes featuring glass relockers)
Anecdotaly, my dad can identify any aircraft or helicopter by sound alone - maker and exact model. Doesn’t use that skill in his job though (he used to be an engineer, now he’s a claims expert for aircraft insurance)
The detectors we use in the lab have both an audible sound and a visual display. You’re right though in that in some cases the display is more useful and in other cases you go by the sound.
I’ve never used one but I gather some metal detectors work the same way.
I think that our brains process sound faster than they process sight, so really any application that requires a reflex-type response will be quicker with an auditory signal than a visual one. A good example would be sprinters, they go on the sound of the gun. If they were to wait until someone else moved first they wouldn’t win very often.
Hmm… I suspect that for sprinters, a gun is used so that the runners don’t all have to turn their heads to see the starter (which for posture reasons would lead to a slower start).
Is there evidence that responses to noises are quicker than to visuals (when the subject is waiting for the stimulus)?
Digital phone systems are so acoustically “clean” that people would get antsy while using them. The designers wound up intentionally inserting a steady hiss known as “comfort tone” so people would know that they’re still connected.
As for machinery, I used to work with industrial sewing machines, and I could often tell from across the room if a given machine was working properly or if the bobbin was about to run out - there was an almost subconscious jingle as the nearly empty bobbin would start bouncing.
ETA: another example of needing to add noises - over at Dolby Laboratories, they have a reference movie theater that’s so quiet that they needed to develop a way to reproduce the usual white noise and rumble of an HVAC system to truly gauge how things would sound in a regular theater. IIRC, the room is mechanically isolated from the rest of the building, so traffic noise doesn’t intrude, and even the ventilation system was designed to be absolutely silent. It’s almost spooky to be in a room that quiet, actually. After a while, you start to hear yourself.
Not sure about the specific evidence you’re asking for, but I recall reading in an article posted during the Olympics (probably one of the bolt threads) that Olympic level sprinters all have a speaker behind their blocks, because the time it took for the sound to get from lane 1 to lane 8 was about 3/100 of a second.
FWIW, being blindfolded while wrestling is not at all a disadvantage. My high school coach used to blind fold us in practice once in awhile. It was amazing how you could still “see” the guy, even though you didn’t have the use of your eyes. It was like a mental image was formed in your head of what he was doing, where he was at, and what he was about to do. Very valuable drill, IMHO.