The impact of an accurate vertical localization with HRTFs on short explorations of immersive virtual reality scenarios

Michele Geronazzo, Erik Sikstöm, J. Kleimola, Federico Avanzini, Amalia De Götzen, Stefania Serafin

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/conference proceedingArticle in proceedingResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Achieving a full 3D auditory experience with head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) is still one of the main challenges of spatial audio rendering. HRTFs capture the listener's acoustic effects and personal perception, allowing immersion in virtual reality (VR) applications. This paper aims to investigate the connection between listener sensitivity in vertical localization cues and experienced presence, spatial audio quality, and attention. Two VR experiments with head-mounted display (HMD) and animated visual avatar are proposed: (i) a screening test aiming to evaluate the participants' localization performance with HRTFs for a non-visible spatialized audio source, and (ii) a 2 minute free exploration of a VR scene with five audiovisual sources in a both non-spatialized (2D stereo panning) and spatialized (free-field HRTF rendering) listening conditions. The screening test allows a distinction between good and bad localizers. The second one shows that no biases are introduced in the quality of the experience (QoE) due to different audio rendering methods; more interestingly, good localizers perceive a lower audio latency and they are less involved in the visual aspects.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProc. 17th IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)
PublisherIEEE Computer Society Press
Publication dateOct 2018
Pages90-98
Article number8613754
ISBN (Print)978-1-5386-7460-4
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-5386-7459-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2018
Event17th IEEE/ACM Int. Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) - Munich, Germany
Duration: 16 Oct 201820 Oct 2018

Conference

Conference17th IEEE/ACM Int. Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period16/10/201820/10/2018
SeriesIEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR)
ISSN1554-7868

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