Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset

Augmented reality audio (ARA) combines virtual sound sources with the real sonic environment of the user. An ARA system can be realized with a headset containing binaural microphones. Ideally, the ARA headset should be acoustically transparent, that is, it should not cause audible modification to th...

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Main Authors: Jussi Rämö, Vesa Välimäki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/457374
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author Jussi Rämö
Vesa Välimäki
author_facet Jussi Rämö
Vesa Välimäki
author_sort Jussi Rämö
collection DOAJ
description Augmented reality audio (ARA) combines virtual sound sources with the real sonic environment of the user. An ARA system can be realized with a headset containing binaural microphones. Ideally, the ARA headset should be acoustically transparent, that is, it should not cause audible modification to the surrounding sound. A practical implementation of an ARA mixer requires a low-latency headphone reproduction system with additional equalization to compensate for the attenuation and the modified ear canal resonances caused by the headphones. This paper proposes digital IIR filters to realize the required equalization and evaluates a real-time prototype ARA system. Measurements show that the throughput latency of the digital prototype ARA system can be less than 1.4 ms, which is sufficiently small in practice. When the direct and processed sounds are combined in the ear, a comb filtering effect is brought about and appears as notches in the frequency response. The comb filter effect in speech and music signals was studied in a listening test and it was found to be inaudible when the attenuation is 20 dB. Insert ARA headphones have a sufficient attenuation at frequencies above about 1 kHz. The proposed digital ARA system enables several immersive audio applications, such as a virtual audio tourist guide and audio teleconferencing.
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spelling doaj-art-14dd11f3b70d48fbaf474e61c2a5e5a92025-08-20T02:02:04ZengWileyJournal of Electrical and Computer Engineering2090-01472090-01552012-01-01201210.1155/2012/457374457374Digital Augmented Reality Audio HeadsetJussi Rämö0Vesa Välimäki1Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, P.O. Box 13000, 00076 Aalto, FinlandDepartment of Signal Processing and Acoustics, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, P.O. Box 13000, 00076 Aalto, FinlandAugmented reality audio (ARA) combines virtual sound sources with the real sonic environment of the user. An ARA system can be realized with a headset containing binaural microphones. Ideally, the ARA headset should be acoustically transparent, that is, it should not cause audible modification to the surrounding sound. A practical implementation of an ARA mixer requires a low-latency headphone reproduction system with additional equalization to compensate for the attenuation and the modified ear canal resonances caused by the headphones. This paper proposes digital IIR filters to realize the required equalization and evaluates a real-time prototype ARA system. Measurements show that the throughput latency of the digital prototype ARA system can be less than 1.4 ms, which is sufficiently small in practice. When the direct and processed sounds are combined in the ear, a comb filtering effect is brought about and appears as notches in the frequency response. The comb filter effect in speech and music signals was studied in a listening test and it was found to be inaudible when the attenuation is 20 dB. Insert ARA headphones have a sufficient attenuation at frequencies above about 1 kHz. The proposed digital ARA system enables several immersive audio applications, such as a virtual audio tourist guide and audio teleconferencing.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/457374
spellingShingle Jussi Rämö
Vesa Välimäki
Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
title Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
title_full Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
title_fullStr Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
title_full_unstemmed Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
title_short Digital Augmented Reality Audio Headset
title_sort digital augmented reality audio headset
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/457374
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