Zero-Crossings with the Precedence Effect for Sound Source Localization in Reverberant Conditions

Abstract

This paper presents a new method of zero-crossing-based estimation for sound source directions using the spatial cues such as the inter-aural time differences (ITDs) and inter-aural intensity differences (IIDs) in reverberant conditions. The difficulty of estimating sound source directions in reverberant conditions is that the ITDs and IIDs are changed according to reflected sounds. To cope with this problem, the precedence effect in which the preceding auditory signals suppress the lagging signals unless the intensity of signals is not strong enough, is considered. This psychoacoustic phenomenon is believed to play an important role for capturing the less interrupted spatial cues. From this viewpoint, the precedence effect is implemented in zero-crossing-based sound source localization. As a result, the proposed zero-crossing time difference (ZCTD) method with the precedence effect is able to provide the robust estimation of sound source directions even in severely reverberant conditions.