Abstract
In this article, we present the current state of the art in binaural audio with the focus on head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) and valuation methods of virtual acoustics with descriptive attributes. This combination provides a methodology, which delivers the basis for research studies in virtual reality (VR) on individual and non-individual head-related transfer functions. Based on the largely explored localization perception of static audio signals, this review offers an overview of the directional hearing during head and sound source movement and multimodality in audiovisual virtual environments. Perceptual quality characteristics provide evaluation methods from which future HRTF VR experiments and virtual environments studies on binaural acoustics could benefit.
Highlights
In virtual reality (VR), spatial hearing plays an important role for achieving an immersive VR experience
Evaluation of spatial auditory experience in VR applications There are several VR studies where the focus lies on immersive VR which is helpful in health care (Snoswell and Snoswell, 2019) or in spatial navigation memory assessment (Ijaz et al, 2019), though considerations about immersive audio are missing in these studies
To fully understand the contribution of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) to the spatial auditory experience in VR applications, we would like to give a detailed overview of its histography, measurement methods and thresholds, reproduction via headphones, and evaluation methods
Summary
In virtual reality (VR), spatial hearing plays an important role for achieving an immersive VR experience. In VR applications of spatial sound processing, the goal is to immerse a listener in a virtual acoustic sound field that could support adequate localization performance, and in this case the importance of individually measured HRTFs remains controversial. The following approaches about perceptual attributes for the comparison of HRTFs are promising: "A Spatial Audio Quality Inventory for Virtual Acoustic Environments (SAQI)" which exist of 48 verbal descriptors for auditive qualities considered to be relevant for the assessment of virtual acoustic environments (Lindau et al, 2014) The categories such as tone color, tonalness, geometry, room, time, dynamics, and artefacts are used to rate the differences. These attributes go beyond the simple question of localization as in measurements of localization errors in degrees, which is often used to evaluate HRTFs, but does not cover the variety of perceptual aspects involved in VR applications (for an example questionnaire, see Tab. 1)
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