Modeling individual HRTF tensor using high-order partial least squares

Abstract

A tensor is used to describe head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) depending on frequencies, sound directions, and anthropometric parameters. It keeps the multi-dimensional structure of measured HRTFs. To construct a multi-linear HRTF personalization model, an individual core tensor is extracted from the original HRTFs using high-order singular value decomposition (HOSVD). The individual core tensor in lower-dimensional space acts as the output of the multi-linear model. Some key anthropometric parameters as the inputs of the model are selected by Laplacian scores and correlation analyses between all the measured parameters and the individual core tensor. Then, the multi-linear regression model is constructed by high-order partial least squares (HOPLS), aiming to seek a joint subspace approximation for both the selected parameters and the individual core tensor. The numbers of latent variables and loadings are used to control the complexity of the model and prevent overfitting feasibly. Compared with the partial least squares regression (PLSR) method, objective simulations demonstrate the better performance for predicting individual HRTFs especially for the sound directions ipsilateral to the concerned ear. The subjective listening tests show that the predicted individual HRTFs are approximate to the measured HRTFs for the sound localization.