Proposal of reverberation time to match the visual aspect of the architectural space displayed in VR using panoramic photographs

Abstract

Most VR applications in the field of architecture are based on visual information only, and the addition of auditory information is expected to provide a more realistic representation. In order to provide a comfortable VR experience, discomfort due to inconsistencies between visual and auditory information should not occur. The aim of this study is to propose a reverberation time that matches the visual aspect of the architectural space displayed in VR using panoramic photographs. Subjective experiments were conducted on 15 virtual spaces created from panoramic photographs of architectural spaces to determine a reverberation time that matches the visual aspect of these spaces and to subjectively evaluate the visual impressions. Based on the results, several models of reverberation time to match the visual aspect of the architectural space displayed in VR using panoramic photographs were created. The results of this experiment showed that the model using the volume of the virtual spaces was appropriate.