Ambient visual information confers a context-specific, long-term benefit on memory for haptic scenes.

•We tested the effect of ambient visual information on memory for haptic scenes.•Early visual experience of ambient surroundings confers a later benefit on haptic scene recognition.•The benefit for ambient vision on haptic memory persists over time but not location.•Ambient vision provides an allocentric reference frame to represent space through touch.•Spatial memory processes are adopted during the initial acquisition of the task.