This study examines the efficiency of a training protocol using a virtual reality application designed to accelerate individual’s selection of, and accommodation to, non-individualized HRTF profiles. This training introduces three elements to hasten audio localization performance improvement: an interactive HRTF selection method, a parametric training program based on active learning, and a relatively dry room acoustic simulation designed to increase the quantity of spatial cues presented. Participants rapidly selected an HRTF (≈5 min) followed by training over three sessions of 12 min distributed over 5 days. To study the impact of the room acoustic component on localization performance evolution, participants were divided into two groups: one acting as control reference, training with only anechoic renderings, the other training in reverberant conditions. The efficiency of the training program was assessed across groups and the entire protocol was assessed through direct comparisons with results reported in previous studies. Results indicate that the proposed training program led to improved learning rates compared to that of previous studies, and that the included room response accelerated the learning process.

This paper presents the results of an extended experiment to assess the impact of individualized binaural rendering on player performance in an ecologically valid use context, specifically that of a VR "shooter game," as part of a larger project to characterize the impact of binaural rendering quality in various VR type applications. Participants played a simple game in which they were faced with successive targets approaching from random directions on a sphere. While audiovisual cues allowed for general target localization, only sections of the game that relied on audio cues were used for analysis. Two HRTF exposure protocols were used, comprising best and worst-match HRTFs from a "perceptually orthogonal" optimized set of HRTFs, during the course of six game sessions. Two groups performed the game sessions exclusively using either their best or worst-match HRTF. Two additional groups performed the game sessions alternating between best and worst-match HRTFs. Results suggest that HRTF quality had minimal general impact on in-game participant performance and improvement rate. However, performance for extreme elevation target positions was affected by the quality of HRTF matching. In addition, a subgroup of participants showed higher sensitivity to HRTF choice than others.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Through a review of the current literature, this chapter defines a methodology for the analysis of HRTF localisation performance, as applied to assess the quality of an HRTF selection or learning program. A case study is subsequently proposed, applying this methodology to a cross-comparison on the results of five contemporary experiments on HRTF learning. The objective is to propose a set of steps and metrics to allow for a systematic assessment of participant performance (baseline, learning rates, foreseeable performance plateau limits, etc.) to ease future inter-study comparisons.