Free-Field Localization Performance With a Head-Tracked Virtual Auditory Display

Romigh, Griffin D.; Brungart, Douglas S.; Simpson, Brian D.

doi:10.1109/jstsp.2015.2421874

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…We argue that for the target locations tested (32 loudspeakers distributed in 360 degrees azimuth), the data obtained with the head pointing technique reflects the lower bound of performance limitations; i.e., the best performance in the task given the perceptual limitations. It is possible that there might be some response transformations that listeners are required to do even in this task; nevertheless, such a transformation is well-practiced, and agrees with accuracy estimates obtained in our lab using a larger density of loudspeaker locations ( [1]). Using a tablet response limited performance mainly due to response technique limitations, suggesting that GUIs used to elicit localization responses should be used cautiously.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…One of the early obstacles to using auditory cues in operational environments was the feasibility and cost of recreating auditory space over headphones. Using signal-processing techniques, it is now relatively easy to generate stereophonic signals under headphones that recreate the spatial cues available in the real-world; in fact, when these cues are rendered appropriately, it is often difficult to distinguish between sounds presented in the free-field over loudspeakers from those presented virtually over headphones [1]. When coupled with a head-tracker, realistic acoustic environments that respond naturally to dynamic source and head motion can be rendered in 3-dimensional (3-D) space around a person's head.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Response Techniques and Auditory Localization Accuracy

Iyer¹,

Thompson²,

Simpson³

2016

Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Auditory Display - ICAD 2016

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Auditory cues, when coupled with visual objects, have lead to reduced response times in visual search tasks, suggesting that adding auditory information can potentially aid Air Force operators in complex scenarios. These beneﬁts are substantial when the spatial transformations that one has to make are relatively simple i.e., mapping a 3-D auditory space to a 3-D visual scene. The current study focused on listeners’ abilities to map sound surrounding a listener to a 2-D visual space, by measuring performance in localization tasks that required the following responses: 1) Headpointing: turn and face a loudspeaker from where a sound emanated, 2) Tablet: point to an icon representing a loudspeaker displayed in an array on a 2-D GUI or, 3) Hybrid: turn and face the loudspeaker from where a sound emanated and them indicate that location on a 2-D GUI. Results indicated that listeners’ localization errors were small when the response modality was head-pointing, and localization errors roughly doubled when they were asked to make a complex transformation o fauditory-visual space (i.e., while using a hybrid response); surprisingly, the hybrid response technique reduced errors compared to the tablet response conditions. These results have large implications for the design of auditory displays that require listeners to make complex, non-intuitive transformations of auditory-visual space.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response Techniques and Auditory Localization Accuracy

Iyer¹,

Thompson²,

Simpson³

2016

Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Auditory Display - ICAD 2016

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“…For example, a virtual audio display could be used to turn off the effects of small head translations while walking while preserving the effects of head rotations. However, the utility of these kinds of evaluations might be limited unless the audio display is a high-fidelity display with individualized head-related transfer functions capable of replicating free-field performance in the full-cue condition (Romigh, Brungart, & Simpson, 2015). Virtual audio displays may face other constraints for walking listeners that do not typically occur for standing or sitting listeners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Walking on Auditory Localization, Visual Discrimination, and Aurally Aided Visual Search

Brungart¹,

Kruger

Kwiatkowski

et al. 2019

Hum Factors

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Objective: The present study was designed to examine the impact that walking has on performance in auditory localization, visual discrimination, and aurally aided visual search tasks. Background: Auditory localization and visual search are critical skills that are frequently conducted by moving observers, but most laboratory studies of these tasks have been conducted on stationary listeners who were either seated or standing during stimulus presentation. Method: Thirty participants completed three different tasks while either standing still or while walking at a comfortable self-selected pace on a treadmill: (1) an auditory localization task, where they identified the perceived location of a target sound; (2) a visual discrimination task, where they identified a visual target presented at a known location directly in front of the listener; and (3) an aurally aided visual search task, where they identified a visual target that was presented in the presence of multiple visual distracters either in isolation or in conjunction with a spatially colocated auditory cue. Results: Participants who were walking performed auditory localization and aurally aided visual search tasks significantly faster than those who were standing, with no loss in accuracy. Conclusion: The improved aurally aided visual search performance found in this experiment may be related to enhanced overall activation caused by walking. It is also possible that the slight head movements required may have provided auditory cues that enhanced localization accuracy. Application: The results have potential applications in virtual and augmented reality displays where audio cues might be presented to listeners while walking.

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“…With the right touch controller, the subject could switch between HRTF A and B via buttons A and B. Sitting on the swivel chair, the subject was allowed explorative movements with her head and body and was not instructed to move her head in any particular way [ 29 , 46 ]. The subject was instructed to explore the VR world by switching between the HRTFs and then rate the HRTFs in the respective perceptual quality.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usability of Individualized Head-Related Transfer Functions in Virtual Reality: Empirical Study With Perceptual Attributes in Sagittal Plane Sound Localization

Jenny¹,

Reuter²

2020

JMIR Serious Games

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Background In order to present virtual sound sources via headphones spatially, head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) can be applied to audio signals. In this so-called binaural virtual acoustics, the spatial perception may be degraded if the HRTFs deviate from the true HRTFs of the listener. Objective In this study, participants wearing virtual reality (VR) headsets performed a listening test on the 3D audio perception of virtual audiovisual scenes, thus enabling us to investigate the necessity and influence of the individualization of HRTFs. Two hypotheses were investigated: first, general HRTFs lead to limitations of 3D audio perception in VR and second, the localization model for stationary localization errors is transferable to nonindividualized HRTFs in more complex environments such as VR. Methods For the evaluation, 39 subjects rated individualized and nonindividualized HRTFs in an audiovisual virtual scene on the basis of 5 perceptual qualities: localizability, front-back position, externalization, tone color, and realism. The VR listening experiment consisted of 2 tests: in the first test, subjects evaluated their own and the general HRTF from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustic Research database and in the second test, their own and 2 other nonindividualized HRTFs from the Acoustics Research Institute HRTF database. For the experiment, 2 subject-specific, nonindividualized HRTFs with a minimal and maximal localization error deviation were selected according to the localization model in sagittal planes. Results With the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for the first test, analysis of variance for the second test, and a sample size of 78, the results were significant in all perceptual qualities, except for the front-back position between own and minimal deviant nonindividualized HRTF (P=.06). Conclusions Both hypotheses have been accepted. Sounds filtered by individualized HRTFs are considered easier to localize, easier to externalize, more natural in timbre, and thus more realistic compared to sounds filtered by nonindividualized HRTFs.

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Free-Field Localization Performance With a Head-Tracked Virtual Auditory Display

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Response Techniques and Auditory Localization Accuracy

Response Techniques and Auditory Localization Accuracy

The Effect of Walking on Auditory Localization, Visual Discrimination, and Aurally Aided Visual Search

Usability of Individualized Head-Related Transfer Functions in Virtual Reality: Empirical Study With Perceptual Attributes in Sagittal Plane Sound Localization

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