The Effects of Laboratory Environment Type on Intermittent Sound Localization

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are gaining commercial popularity. 3D sound guidelines for AR and VR are derived from psychoacoustic experiments performed in contrived, sterile laboratory settings. Often, these settings are expensive, inaccessible, and unattainable for researchers. The feasibility of conducting psychoacoustic experiments outside the laboratory remains unclear. To investigate, we explore 3D sound localization experiments in-lab (IL) and out-of-the lab (OL). The IL study condition was conducted as a traditional psychoacoustic experiment in a soundproof booth. The OL condition occurred in a quiet environment of the participants' choosing, using commercial-grade headphones. Localization performance did not vary significantly for OL participants compared to the IL participants, with larger variation observed in the IL condition. Participants needed significantly more time to complete the experiment IL than OL. The results suggest that conducting headphone-based psychoacoustic experiments outside the laboratory is feasible if completion time is negligible.