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Auditory perception

Sounds in a virtual world

Nature volume 396, pages 721–723 (1998)Cite this article

Sounds delivered through headphones can be made to seem as though they originate from sources outside the head — a compelling illusion known as virtual auditory space. Although current implementations are far from perfect, progress has been encouraging1 and practical applications could include enhancing the information content of virtual environments such as military simulations or computer games. Virtual auditory space also allows auditory researchers to control stimuli very precisely and to investigate stimuli, such as moving sounds, that are difficult to generate using free-field speakers.

The impression of a sound with direction can be generated through stereophonic headphones by incorporating differences in the timing and intensity of the signals at the two ears. But these auditory images are typically confined within the head. Externalized images can be elicited only by carefully compensating for any spectral coloration generated by the headphones, and by applying a filter function to compensate for the normal HRTF. Hartmann and Wittenberg5 were the first to investigate the factors that are important for externalizing the acoustic image in a controlled way, and they found that externalization requires realistic spectral profiles in each ear — that is, the sound experienced at the eardrum should reproduce the sound that would occur naturally. Because there is considerable variability in the size and shape of the human pinna, such a realistic virtual space image requires that the listener's own HRTF is measured6. In fact, when people try to listen via the filtering of another person's ears, their ability to distinguish where a sound is coming from suffers markedly7. Moreover, there is evidence that in the normal course of repositioning the headphones, the HRTF may be shifted considerably.

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Figure 1: The two ears, like the eyes, capture the world from slightly different perspectives.
Figure 2: Filtering of sound by the external ear.

References

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  1. the Center for Neural Science, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, 10003, New York, USA

    Malcolm N. Semple

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  1. Malcolm N. Semple
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Semple, M. Sounds in a virtual world. Nature 396, 721–723 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/25447

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