Investigation of an MAA test with virtual sound synthesis
Investigation of an MAA test with virtual sound synthesis
The ability to localize a sound source is very important in our daily life, specifically to analyze auditory scenes in complex acoustic environments. The concept of minimum audible angle (MAA), which is defined as the smallest detectable difference between the incident directions of two sound sources, has been widely used in the research fields of auditory perception to measure localization ability. Measuring MAAs usually involves a reference sound source and either a large number of loudspeakers or a movable sound source in order to reproduce sound sources at a large number of predefined incident directions. However, existing MAA test systems are often cumbersome because they require a large number of loudspeakers or a mechanical rail slide and thus are expensive and inconvenient to use. This study investigates a novel MAA test method using virtual sound source synthesis and avoiding the problems with traditional methods. We compare the perceptual localization acuity of sound sources in two experimental designs: using the virtual presentation and real sound sources. The virtual sound source is reproduced through a pair of loudspeakers weighted by vector-based amplitude panning (VBAP). Results show that the average measured MAA at 0° azimuth is 1.1° and the average measured MAA at 90° azimuth is 3.1° in a virtual acoustic system, meanwhile the average measured MAA at 0° azimuth is about 1.2° and the average measured MAA at 90° azimuth is 3.3° when using the real sound sources. The measurements of the two methods have no significant difference. We conclude that the proposed MAA test system is a suitable alternative to more complicated and expensive setups.
localization acuity, the frontal MAA, the lateral MAA, VBAP, virtual sound synthesis
Meng, Ruijie
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Xiang, Jingpeng
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Sang, Jinqiu
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Zheng, Chengshi
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Li, Xiaodong
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Bleeck, Stefan
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Cai, Juanjuan
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Wang, Jie
377baefe-1668-4af6-80c8-1c3e1bde25db
2 June 2021
Meng, Ruijie
bdf31fee-ae15-4bd6-b0b1-ba4c738d0dab
Xiang, Jingpeng
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Sang, Jinqiu
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Zheng, Chengshi
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Li, Xiaodong
9a1d146e-1c0d-4b78-b84e-7706504a1cdc
Bleeck, Stefan
c888ccba-e64c-47bf-b8fa-a687e87ec16c
Cai, Juanjuan
ce7e83ce-3a96-4992-8d2d-66a760140736
Wang, Jie
377baefe-1668-4af6-80c8-1c3e1bde25db
Meng, Ruijie, Xiang, Jingpeng, Sang, Jinqiu, Zheng, Chengshi, Li, Xiaodong, Bleeck, Stefan, Cai, Juanjuan and Wang, Jie
(2021)
Investigation of an MAA test with virtual sound synthesis.
Frontiers in Psychology, 12, [656052].
(doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656052).
Abstract
The ability to localize a sound source is very important in our daily life, specifically to analyze auditory scenes in complex acoustic environments. The concept of minimum audible angle (MAA), which is defined as the smallest detectable difference between the incident directions of two sound sources, has been widely used in the research fields of auditory perception to measure localization ability. Measuring MAAs usually involves a reference sound source and either a large number of loudspeakers or a movable sound source in order to reproduce sound sources at a large number of predefined incident directions. However, existing MAA test systems are often cumbersome because they require a large number of loudspeakers or a mechanical rail slide and thus are expensive and inconvenient to use. This study investigates a novel MAA test method using virtual sound source synthesis and avoiding the problems with traditional methods. We compare the perceptual localization acuity of sound sources in two experimental designs: using the virtual presentation and real sound sources. The virtual sound source is reproduced through a pair of loudspeakers weighted by vector-based amplitude panning (VBAP). Results show that the average measured MAA at 0° azimuth is 1.1° and the average measured MAA at 90° azimuth is 3.1° in a virtual acoustic system, meanwhile the average measured MAA at 0° azimuth is about 1.2° and the average measured MAA at 90° azimuth is 3.3° when using the real sound sources. The measurements of the two methods have no significant difference. We conclude that the proposed MAA test system is a suitable alternative to more complicated and expensive setups.
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fpsyg-12-656052
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Published date: 2 June 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Fund of China (Nos. 12074403 and 11974086), the Open Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Media Convergence and Communication, Communication University of China, China (No. SKLMCC2020KF005), the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (No. 201904010468), and Guangzhou University Science Research Project (No. YJ2021008).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Meng, Xiang, Sang, Zheng, Li, Bleeck, Cai and Wang.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
localization acuity, the frontal MAA, the lateral MAA, VBAP, virtual sound synthesis
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 457308
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457308
ISSN: 1664-1078
PURE UUID: cfabb9a9-c935-4569-9b11-f39cd9d66e9a
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Date deposited: 31 May 2022 16:56
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:03
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Author:
Ruijie Meng
Author:
Jingpeng Xiang
Author:
Jinqiu Sang
Author:
Chengshi Zheng
Author:
Xiaodong Li
Author:
Juanjuan Cai
Author:
Jie Wang
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