Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments

When localizing sound sources in natural or virtual environments, multisensory integration that combines auditory and visual cues is often involved. This study aims to determine the effect of (non-)individual head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) on sound source localization in the presence of vis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Riedel Stefan, Frank Matthias, Zotter Franz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2025-01-01
Series:Acta Acustica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240090/aacus240090.html
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850065821504634880
author Riedel Stefan
Frank Matthias
Zotter Franz
author_facet Riedel Stefan
Frank Matthias
Zotter Franz
author_sort Riedel Stefan
collection DOAJ
description When localizing sound sources in natural or virtual environments, multisensory integration that combines auditory and visual cues is often involved. This study aims to determine the effect of (non-)individual head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) on sound source localization in the presence of visual cues. Participants (N = 16) were seated in a hemispherical loudspeaker arrangement, and their task was to indicate the perceived direction of pink-noise bursts. The conditions included localization of real loudspeakers and virtualized loudspeakers based on binaural rendering with (non-)individual HRTFs. The horizontal spacing of the visible loudspeakers was 30 degrees or larger and the vertical spacing was varied between 30 degrees and 15 degrees, to focus on vertical discrimination. The results of a static localization experiment (no head movements during playback) demonstrated an increased rate of vertical local confusions using non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) of the KU100 dummy head compared to individual BRIRs. Dynamic auditory-visual localization with non-individual HRTFs suffered from vertical uncertainty and bias in the frontal area, where local confusion rates were consistent with the static experiment. In conclusion, the horizontal localization mapping of dynamic binaural rendering with non-individual HRTFs was comparable to real loudspeaker reproduction, while the vertical mapping was significantly impaired.
format Article
id doaj-art-ccd12bff97d14064b8bc0cef169336bd
institution DOAJ
issn 2681-4617
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher EDP Sciences
record_format Article
series Acta Acustica
spelling doaj-art-ccd12bff97d14064b8bc0cef169336bd2025-08-20T02:48:54ZengEDP SciencesActa Acustica2681-46172025-01-0192110.1051/aacus/2025005aacus240090Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environmentsRiedel Stefan0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8428-9283Frank Matthias1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1010-8202Zotter Franz2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6201-1106Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, University of Music and Performing Arts GrazInstitute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, University of Music and Performing Arts GrazInstitute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, University of Music and Performing Arts GrazWhen localizing sound sources in natural or virtual environments, multisensory integration that combines auditory and visual cues is often involved. This study aims to determine the effect of (non-)individual head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) on sound source localization in the presence of visual cues. Participants (N = 16) were seated in a hemispherical loudspeaker arrangement, and their task was to indicate the perceived direction of pink-noise bursts. The conditions included localization of real loudspeakers and virtualized loudspeakers based on binaural rendering with (non-)individual HRTFs. The horizontal spacing of the visible loudspeakers was 30 degrees or larger and the vertical spacing was varied between 30 degrees and 15 degrees, to focus on vertical discrimination. The results of a static localization experiment (no head movements during playback) demonstrated an increased rate of vertical local confusions using non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) of the KU100 dummy head compared to individual BRIRs. Dynamic auditory-visual localization with non-individual HRTFs suffered from vertical uncertainty and bias in the frontal area, where local confusion rates were consistent with the static experiment. In conclusion, the horizontal localization mapping of dynamic binaural rendering with non-individual HRTFs was comparable to real loudspeaker reproduction, while the vertical mapping was significantly impaired.https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240090/aacus240090.htmlauditory-visual localizationbinaural renderingvirtual and augmented realityhead-related transfer functions
spellingShingle Riedel Stefan
Frank Matthias
Zotter Franz
Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
Acta Acustica
auditory-visual localization
binaural rendering
virtual and augmented reality
head-related transfer functions
title Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
title_full Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
title_fullStr Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
title_full_unstemmed Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
title_short Effect of HRTFs and head motion on auditory-visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
title_sort effect of hrtfs and head motion on auditory visual localization in real and virtual studio environments
topic auditory-visual localization
binaural rendering
virtual and augmented reality
head-related transfer functions
url https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2025/01/aacus240090/aacus240090.html
work_keys_str_mv AT riedelstefan effectofhrtfsandheadmotiononauditoryvisuallocalizationinrealandvirtualstudioenvironments
AT frankmatthias effectofhrtfsandheadmotiononauditoryvisuallocalizationinrealandvirtualstudioenvironments
AT zotterfranz effectofhrtfsandheadmotiononauditoryvisuallocalizationinrealandvirtualstudioenvironments