Spatial Hearing

The field of spatial hearing has exploded in the decade or so since Jens Blauert's classic work on acoustics was first published in English. This revised edition adds a new chapter that describes developments in such areas as auditory virtual reality (an important field of application that is based mainly on the physics of spatial hearing), binaural technology (modeling speech enhancement by binaural hearing), and spatial sound-field mapping. The chapter also includes recent research on the precedence effect that provides clear experimental evidence that cognition plays a significant role in spatial hearing.The remaining four chapters in this comprehensive reference cover auditory research procedures and psychometric methods, spatial hearing with one sound source, spatial hearing with multiple sound sources and in enclosed spaces, and progress and trends from 1972 (the first German edition) to 1983 (the first English edition) -- work that includes research on the physics of the external ear, and the application of signal processing theory to modeling the spatial hearing process. There is an extensive bibliography of more than 900 items.

The current popular and scientific interest in virtual environments has provided a new impetus for investigating binaural and spatial hearing. However, the many intriguing phenomena of spatial hearing have long made it an exciting area of scientific inquiry. Psychophysical and physiological investigations of spatial hearing seem to be converging on common explanations of underlying mechanisms. These understandings have in turn been incorporated into sophisticated yet mathematically tractable models of binaural interaction. Thus, binaural and spatial hearing is one of the few areas in which professionals are soon likely to find adequate physiological explanations of complex psychological phenomena that can be reasonably and usefully approximated by mathematical and physical models. This volume grew out of the Conference on Binaural and Spatial Hearing, a four-day event held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in response to rapid developments in binaural and spatial hearing research and technology. Meant to be more than just a proceedings, it presents chapters that are longer than typical proceedings papers and contain considerably more review material, including extensive bibliographies in many cases. Arranged into topical sections, the chapters represent major thrusts in the recent literature. The authors of the first chapter in each section have been encouraged to take a broad perspective and review the current state of literature. Subsequent chapters in each section tend to be somewhat more narrowly focused, and often emphasize the authors' own work. Thus, each section provides overview, background, and current research on a particular topic. This book is significant in that it reviews the important work during the past 10 to 15 years, and provides greater breadth and depth than most of the previous works.

The current popular and scientific interest in virtual environments has provided a new impetus for investigating binaural and spatial hearing. However, the many intriguing phenomena of spatial hearing have long made it an exciting area of scientific inquiry. Psychophysical and physiological investigations of spatial hearing seem to be converging on common explanations of underlying mechanisms. These understandings have in turn been incorporated into sophisticated yet mathematically tractable models of binaural interaction. Thus, binaural and spatial hearing is one of the few areas in which professionals are soon likely to find adequate physiological explanations of complex psychological phenomena that can be reasonably and usefully approximated by mathematical and physical models. This volume grew out of the Conference on Binaural and Spatial Hearing, a four-day event held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in response to rapid developments in binaural and spatial hearing research and technology. Meant to be more than just a proceedings, it presents chapters that are longer than typical proceedings papers and contain considerably more review material, including extensive bibliographies in many cases. Arranged into topical sections, the chapters represent major thrusts in the recent literature. The authors of the first chapter in each section have been encouraged to take a broad perspective and review the current state of literature. Subsequent chapters in each section tend to be somewhat more narrowly focused, and often emphasize the authors' own work. Thus, each section provides overview, background, and current research on a particular topic. This book is significant in that it reviews the important work during the past 10 to 15 years, and provides greater breadth and depth than most of the previous works.

Section 3. Capturing and controlling the spatial sound field. A study on 3D sound image control by two loudspeakers located in the transverse plane / K. Iida, T. Ishii, and Y. Ishii. Selective listening point audio based on blind signal separation and 3D audio effect / T. Nishino [und weitere]. Selective listening point audio based on blind signal separation and 3D audio effect / T. Nishino. Sweet spot size in virtual sound reproduction : A temporal analysis / Y. Lacouture Parodi and P. Rubak. Psychoacoustic evaluation of different methods for creating individualized, headphone-presented virtual auditory space from B-format room impulse responses / A. Kan, C. Jin, and A. van Schaik. Effects of microphone arrangements on the accuracy of a spherical microphone array (SENZI) in acquiring high-definition 3D sound space information / J. Kodama [und weitere]. Perception-based reproduction of spatial sound with directional audio coding / V. Pulkki [und weitere]. Capturing and recreating auditory virtual reality / R. Duraiswami [und weitere]. Reconstructing sound source directivity in virtual acoustic environments / M. Noisternig, F. Zotter, and B.F.G. Katz. Implementation of real-time room auralization using a surrounding loudspeaker array / T. Okamoto [und weitere]. Spatialisation in audio augmented reality using finger snaps / H. Gamper and T. Lokki. Generation of sound ball : Its theory and implementation / Y.-H. Kim [und weitere]. Estimation of high-resolution sound properties for realizing an editable sound-space system / T. Okamoto, Y. Iwaya, and Y. Suzuki -- Section 4. Applying virtual sound techniques in the real world. Binaural hearing assistance system based on frequency domain binaural model / T. Usagawa and Y. Chisaki. A spatial auditory display for telematic music performances / J. Braasch [und weitere]. Auditory orientation training system developed for blind people using PC-based wide-range 3-D sound technology / Y. Seki [und weitere]. Mapping musical scales onto virtual 3D spaces / J. Villegas and M. Cohen. Sonifying head-related transfer unctions / D. Cabrera and W.L. Martens. Effects of spatial cues on detectability of alarm signals in noisy environments / N. Kuroda [und weitere]. Binaural technique for active noise control assessment / Y. Watanabe and H. Hamada

Spatial-hearing ability has been found to vary widely across listeners. A survey of the existing auditory-space perception literature suggests that three main types of factors may account for this variability: - physical factors, e.g., acoustical characteristics related to sound-localization cues, - perceptual factors, e.g., sensory/cognitive processing, perceptual learning, multisensory interactions, - and methodological factors, e.g., differences in stimulus presentation methods across studies. However, the extent to which these–and perhaps other, still unidentified—factors actually contribute to the observed variability in spatial hearing across individuals with normal hearing or within special populations (e.g., hearing-impaired listeners) remains largely unknown. Likewise, the role of perceptual learning and multisensory interactions in the emergence of a multimodal but unified representation of “auditory space,” is still an active topic of research. A better characterization and understanding of the determinants of inter-individual variability in spatial hearing, and of its relationship with perceptual learning and multisensory interactions, would have numerous benefits. In particular, it would enhance the design of rehabilitative devices and of human-machine interfaces involving auditory, or multimodal space perception, such as virtual auditory/multimodal displays in aeronautics, or navigational aids for the visually impaired. For this Research Topic, we have considered manuscripts that: - present new methods, or review existing methods, for the study of inter-individual differences; - present new data (or review existing) data, concerning acoustical features relevant for explaining inter-individual differences in sound-localization performance; - present new (or review existing) psychophysical or neurophysiological findings concerning spatial hearing and/or auditory perceptual learning, and/or multisensory interactions in humans (normal or impaired, young or older listeners) or other species; - discuss the influence of inter-individual differences on the design and use of assistive listening devices (rehabilitation) or human-machine interfaces involving spatial hearing or multimodal perception of space (ergonomy).

The field of Binaural Hearing involves studies of auditory perception, physiology, and modeling, including normal and abnormal aspects of the system. Binaural processes involved in both sound localization and speech unmasking have gained a broader interest and have received growing attention in the published literature. The field has undergone some significant changes. There is now a much richer understanding of the many aspects that comprising binaural processing, its role in development, and in success and limitations of hearing-aid and cochlear-implant users. The goal of this volume is to provide an up-to-date reference on the developments and novel ideas in the field of binaural hearing. The primary readership for the volume is expected to be academic specialists in the diverse fields that connect with psychoacoustics, neuroscience, engineering, psychology, audiology, and cochlear implants. This volume will serve as an important resource by way of introduction to the field, in particular for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, the faculty who train them and clinicians.

An integrated overview of hearing and the interplay of physical, biological, and psychological processes underlying it. Every time we listen—to speech, to music, to footsteps approaching or retreating—our auditory perception is the result of a long chain of diverse and intricate processes that unfold within the source of the sound itself, in the air, in our ears, and, most of all, in our brains. Hearing is an "everyday miracle" that, despite its staggering complexity, seems effortless. This book offers an integrated account of hearing in terms of the neural processes that take place in different parts of the auditory system. Because hearing results from the interplay of so many physical, biological, and psychological processes, the book pulls together the different aspects of hearing—including acoustics, the mathematics of signal processing, the physiology of the ear and central auditory pathways, psychoacoustics, speech, and music—into a coherent whole.