How and Why Does Spatial-Hearing Ability Differ among Listeners? What Is the Role of Learning and Multisensory Interactions?


Book Description

Spatial-hearing ability has been found to vary widely across listeners. A survey of the existing auditory-space perception literature suggests that three main types of factors may account for this variability: - physical factors, e.g., acoustical characteristics related to sound-localization cues, - perceptual factors, e.g., sensory/cognitive processing, perceptual learning, multisensory interactions, - and methodological factors, e.g., differences in stimulus presentation methods across studies. However, the extent to which these–and perhaps other, still unidentified—factors actually contribute to the observed variability in spatial hearing across individuals with normal hearing or within special populations (e.g., hearing-impaired listeners) remains largely unknown. Likewise, the role of perceptual learning and multisensory interactions in the emergence of a multimodal but unified representation of “auditory space,” is still an active topic of research. A better characterization and understanding of the determinants of inter-individual variability in spatial hearing, and of its relationship with perceptual learning and multisensory interactions, would have numerous benefits. In particular, it would enhance the design of rehabilitative devices and of human-machine interfaces involving auditory, or multimodal space perception, such as virtual auditory/multimodal displays in aeronautics, or navigational aids for the visually impaired. For this Research Topic, we have considered manuscripts that: - present new methods, or review existing methods, for the study of inter-individual differences; - present new data (or review existing) data, concerning acoustical features relevant for explaining inter-individual differences in sound-localization performance; - present new (or review existing) psychophysical or neurophysiological findings concerning spatial hearing and/or auditory perceptual learning, and/or multisensory interactions in humans (normal or impaired, young or older listeners) or other species; - discuss the influence of inter-individual differences on the design and use of assistive listening devices (rehabilitation) or human-machine interfaces involving spatial hearing or multimodal perception of space (ergonomy).




Binaural Hearing


Book Description

The field of Binaural Hearing involves studies of auditory perception, physiology, and modeling, including normal and abnormal aspects of the system. Binaural processes involved in both sound localization and speech unmasking have gained a broader interest and have received growing attention in the published literature. The field has undergone some significant changes. There is now a much richer understanding of the many aspects that comprising binaural processing, its role in development, and in success and limitations of hearing-aid and cochlear-implant users. The goal of this volume is to provide an up-to-date reference on the developments and novel ideas in the field of binaural hearing. The primary readership for the volume is expected to be academic specialists in the diverse fields that connect with psychoacoustics, neuroscience, engineering, psychology, audiology, and cochlear implants. This volume will serve as an important resource by way of introduction to the field, in particular for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, the faculty who train them and clinicians.




Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments


Book Description

This open access book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments.




Principles and Applications of Spatial Hearing


Book Description

Section 3. Capturing and controlling the spatial sound field. A study on 3D sound image control by two loudspeakers located in the transverse plane / K. Iida, T. Ishii, and Y. Ishii. Selective listening point audio based on blind signal separation and 3D audio effect / T. Nishino [und weitere]. Selective listening point audio based on blind signal separation and 3D audio effect / T. Nishino. Sweet spot size in virtual sound reproduction : A temporal analysis / Y. Lacouture Parodi and P. Rubak. Psychoacoustic evaluation of different methods for creating individualized, headphone-presented virtual auditory space from B-format room impulse responses / A. Kan, C. Jin, and A. van Schaik. Effects of microphone arrangements on the accuracy of a spherical microphone array (SENZI) in acquiring high-definition 3D sound space information / J. Kodama [und weitere]. Perception-based reproduction of spatial sound with directional audio coding / V. Pulkki [und weitere]. Capturing and recreating auditory virtual reality / R. Duraiswami [und weitere]. Reconstructing sound source directivity in virtual acoustic environments / M. Noisternig, F. Zotter, and B.F.G. Katz. Implementation of real-time room auralization using a surrounding loudspeaker array / T. Okamoto [und weitere]. Spatialisation in audio augmented reality using finger snaps / H. Gamper and T. Lokki. Generation of sound ball : Its theory and implementation / Y.-H. Kim [und weitere]. Estimation of high-resolution sound properties for realizing an editable sound-space system / T. Okamoto, Y. Iwaya, and Y. Suzuki -- Section 4. Applying virtual sound techniques in the real world. Binaural hearing assistance system based on frequency domain binaural model / T. Usagawa and Y. Chisaki. A spatial auditory display for telematic music performances / J. Braasch [und weitere]. Auditory orientation training system developed for blind people using PC-based wide-range 3-D sound technology / Y. Seki [und weitere]. Mapping musical scales onto virtual 3D spaces / J. Villegas and M. Cohen. Sonifying head-related transfer unctions / D. Cabrera and W.L. Martens. Effects of spatial cues on detectability of alarm signals in noisy environments / N. Kuroda [und weitere]. Binaural technique for active noise control assessment / Y. Watanabe and H. Hamada




Hearing Loss


Book Description

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.




Spatial Hearing


Book Description

The field of spatial hearing has exploded in the decade or so since Jens Blauert's classic work on acoustics was first published in English. This revised edition adds a new chapter that describes developments in such areas as auditory virtual reality (an important field of application that is based mainly on the physics of spatial hearing), binaural technology (modeling speech enhancement by binaural hearing), and spatial sound-field mapping. The chapter also includes recent research on the precedence effect that provides clear experimental evidence that cognition plays a significant role in spatial hearing.The remaining four chapters in this comprehensive reference cover auditory research procedures and psychometric methods, spatial hearing with one sound source, spatial hearing with multiple sound sources and in enclosed spaces, and progress and trends from 1972 (the first German edition) to 1983 (the first English edition) -- work that includes research on the physics of the external ear, and the application of signal processing theory to modeling the spatial hearing process. There is an extensive bibliography of more than 900 items.




The Auditory System and Human Sound-Localization Behavior


Book Description

The Auditory System and Human Sound-Localization Behavior provides a comprehensive account of the full action-perception cycle underlying spatial hearing. It highlights the interesting properties of the auditory system, such as its organization in azimuth and elevation coordinates. Readers will appreciate that sound localization is inherently a neuro-computational process (it needs to process on implicit and independent acoustic cues). The localization problem of which sound location gave rise to a particular sensory acoustic input cannot be uniquely solved, and therefore requires some clever strategies to cope with everyday situations. The reader is guided through the full interdisciplinary repertoire of the natural sciences: not only neurobiology, but also physics and mathematics, and current theories on sensorimotor integration (e.g. Bayesian approaches to deal with uncertain information) and neural encoding. - Quantitative, model-driven approaches to the full action-perception cycle of sound-localization behavior and eye-head gaze control - Comprehensive introduction to acoustics, systems analysis, computational models, and neurophysiology of the auditory system - Full account of gaze-control paradigms that probe the acoustic action-perception cycle, including multisensory integration, auditory plasticity, and hearing impaired







Probing auditory scene analysis


Book Description

In natural environments, the auditory system is typically confronted with a mixture of sounds originating from different sound sources. As sounds spread over time, the auditory system has to continuously decompose competing sounds into distinct meaningful auditory objects or “auditory streams” referring to certain sound sources. This decomposition work, which was termed by Albert Bregman as “Auditory scene analysis” (ASA), involves two kinds of grouping to be done. Grouping based on simultaneous cues, such as harmonicity and on sequential cues, such as similarity in acoustic features over time. Understanding how the brain solves these tasks is a fundamental challenge facing auditory scientist. In recent years, the topic of ASA was broadly investigated in different fields of auditory research, including a wide range of methods, studies in different species, and modeling. Despite the advance in understanding ASA, it still proves to be a major challenge for auditory research. This includes verifying whether experimental findings are transferable to more realistic auditory scenes. A central approach in understanding ASA is the use of certain stimulus parameters that produce an ambiguous percept. The advantage of such an approach is that different perceptual organizations can be studied without varying physical stimulus parameters. Additionally, the perception of ambiguous stimuli can be volitionally controlled by intention or task. By using this one can mirror real hearing situations where listeners intent to identify and to localize auditory sources. Recently it was also found that in classical auditory streaming sequences perceptual ambiguity was not restricted to but was observed over a broad range of stimulus parameters. The proposed Research Topic pursues to bring together scientist in the different fields of auditory research whose work addresses the issue of perceptual ambiguity. Researchers were welcome to contribute experimental reports, computational modeling, and reviews that consider auditory ambiguity in its modality specific characteristics as well as in comparison to visual ambiguous figures. The overall goal of contributions was to consider the experimental findings from the perspective of real auditory scenes. In a broader sense, the Research Topic was open for contributions which are related to the issue of active listening in complex scenes.




Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments


Book Description

The current popular and scientific interest in virtual environments has provided a new impetus for investigating binaural and spatial hearing. However, the many intriguing phenomena of spatial hearing have long made it an exciting area of scientific inquiry. Psychophysical and physiological investigations of spatial hearing seem to be converging on common explanations of underlying mechanisms. These understandings have in turn been incorporated into sophisticated yet mathematically tractable models of binaural interaction. Thus, binaural and spatial hearing is one of the few areas in which professionals are soon likely to find adequate physiological explanations of complex psychological phenomena that can be reasonably and usefully approximated by mathematical and physical models. This volume grew out of the Conference on Binaural and Spatial Hearing, a four-day event held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in response to rapid developments in binaural and spatial hearing research and technology. Meant to be more than just a proceedings, it presents chapters that are longer than typical proceedings papers and contain considerably more review material, including extensive bibliographies in many cases. Arranged into topical sections, the chapters represent major thrusts in the recent literature. The authors of the first chapter in each section have been encouraged to take a broad perspective and review the current state of literature. Subsequent chapters in each section tend to be somewhat more narrowly focused, and often emphasize the authors' own work. Thus, each section provides overview, background, and current research on a particular topic. This book is significant in that it reviews the important work during the past 10 to 15 years, and provides greater breadth and depth than most of the previous works.