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Distance perception of a virtual sound source synthesized near the listener position

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Abstract

This paper reports on the challenges faced in attempts to synthesize virtual sound sources near the listener position due to the differences between sound fields of real and virtual sound sources, especially if virtual sources reproduced by a line array of loudspeakers are to be positioned within the arm’s reach of the listener. Distance perception has been described by various acoustical parameters, such as loudness, power spectrum, and direct-to-reverberant energy ratio; however, ILD has been considered as a strong distance cue when the source to be positioned near the listener and at an azimuth angle well offset from the median plane. The ILD observed in a sound field reproduced by a loudspeaker array is inevitably different from that of a real sound source due to several reproduction artifacts. Using a rigid sphere as a model of human’s head within 1 m, we demonstrate how the ILD is influenced by the reproduction artifacts of a line array. Observing the ILD resulting for various virtual source locations shows that the acoustical cues to perceive distance are not well-reproduced in general; however, there are regions of virtual source locations near the listener within which correct ILDs can be provided. Some local minima in magnitude in space induce large ILD values at particular spatial positions through truncation of the array which results in virtual sources being positioned at extremely close range to the listener.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) grant funded by the Korea government (No. 10037244), and the BK21 (Brain Korea 21) project initiated by the Ministry of Education, and Unmanned Technology Research Center (UTRC) at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), originally funded by DAPA, ADD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Noise and Vibration Control, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Dong-Soo Kang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Jung-Woo Choi

  3. Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia

    William L. Martens

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  1. Dong-Soo Kang
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  2. Jung-Woo Choi
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  3. William L. Martens
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Correspondence to Jung-Woo Choi.

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Kang, DS., Choi, JW. & Martens, W.L. Distance perception of a virtual sound source synthesized near the listener position. Multimed Tools Appl 75, 5161–5182 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-015-2878-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-015-2878-9

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