Personalization of head-related transfer functions in the median plane based on spectral correction with pinna angle

Abstract

Head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) are studied to realize high-precision sound field reproduction systems. These systems usually utilize the HRTFs of other listeners because self-measurement of one’s own HRTFs is a heavy burden. The localized sound accuracy of the listener, especially in the median plane, is degraded when the systems utilize the HRTFs of other listeners, which have different characteristics from the listener’s own ones. Thus, simple personalization of HRTFs is necessary for solving this problem. In this research, we focus on personalization of HRTFs in the median plane on the basis of spectral correction with pinna angles as anthropometric parameters. We first made analyses of the relationship between pinna angles and the spectral envelopes of HRTFs in the median plane through an experiment with a dummy head with a replicated pinna made from silicone. From these analyses, the spectral envelopes were confirmed to be affected by pinna angles. We then proposed a method for personalization of HRTFs on the basis of spectral correction with the pinna angles. Objective and subjective evaluation experiments were carried out in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. As a result, we confirmed improvement in the performance of sound image localization.