scholarly journals Effect of Environment-Related Cues on Auditory Distance Perception in the Context of Audio-Only Augmented Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 348
Author(s):  
Vincent Martin ◽  
Isabelle Viaud-Delmon ◽  
Olivier Warusfel
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Distance Perception ◽  
Distance Judgment ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Auditory Distance ◽  
Context Cues

Audio-only augmented reality consists of enhancing a real environment with virtual sound events. A seamless integration of the virtual events within the environment requires processing them with artificial spatialization and reverberation effects that simulate the acoustic properties of the room. However, in augmented reality, the visual and acoustic environment of the listener may not be fully mastered. This study aims to gain some insight into the acoustic cues (intensity and reverberation) that are used by the listener to form an auditory distance judgment, and to observe if these strategies can be influenced by the listener’s environment. To do so, we present a perceptual evaluation of two distance-rendering models informed by a measured Spatial Room Impulse Response. The choice of the rendering methods was made to design stimuli categories in which the availability and reproduction quality of acoustic cues are different. The proposed models have been evaluated in an online experiment gathering 108 participants who were asked to provide judgments of auditory distance about a stationary source. To evaluate the importance of environmental cues, participants had to describe the environment in which they were running the experiment, and more specifically the volume of the room and the distance to the wall they were facing. It could be shown that these context cues had a limited, but significant, influence on the perceived auditory distance.

Cochlear Nucleus

2017 ◽  
pp. 415-424
Author(s):  
Eric D. Young ◽  
Donata Oertel
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Neuronal Circuits ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Temporal Fluctuations ◽  
The Face ◽  
Thalamocortical System ◽  
The Brain

Neuronal circuits in the brainstem convert the output of the ear, which carries the acoustic properties of ongoing sound, to a representation of the acoustic environment that can be used by the thalamocortical system. Most important, brainstem circuits reflect the way the brain uses acoustic cues to determine where sounds arise and what they mean. The circuits merge the separate representations of sound in the two ears and stabilize them in the face of disturbances such as loudness fluctuation or background noise. Embedded in these systems are some specialized analyses that are driven by the need to resolve tiny differences in the time and intensity of sounds at the two ears and to resolve rapid temporal fluctuations in sounds like the sequence of notes in music or the sequence of syllables in speech.

scholarly journals Creation of Auditory Augmented Reality Using a Position-Dynamic Binaural Synthesis System—Technical Components, Psychoacoustic Needs, and Perceptual Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1150
Author(s):  
Stephan Werner ◽  
Florian Klein ◽  
Annika Neidhardt ◽  
Ulrike Sloma ◽  
Christian Schneiderwind ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Auditory Perception ◽  
Audio Signal ◽  
Spatial Audio ◽  
Impulse Responses ◽  
Synthesis System ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Listening Tests ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Audio Reproduction

For a spatial audio reproduction in the context of augmented reality, a position-dynamic binaural synthesis system can be used to synthesize the ear signals for a moving listener. The goal is the fusion of the auditory perception of the virtual audio objects with the real listening environment. Such a system has several components, each of which help to enable a plausible auditory simulation. For each possible position of the listener in the room, a set of binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) congruent with the expected auditory environment is required to avoid room divergence effects. Adequate and efficient approaches are methods to synthesize new BRIRs using very few measurements of the listening room. The required spatial resolution of the BRIR positions can be estimated by spatial auditory perception thresholds. Retrieving and processing the tracking data of the listener’s head-pose and position as well as convolving BRIRs with an audio signal needs to be done in real-time. This contribution presents work done by the authors including several technical components of such a system in detail. It shows how the single components are affected by psychoacoustics. Furthermore, the paper also discusses the perceptive effect by means of listening tests demonstrating the appropriateness of the approaches.

Estimating Distances in Action Space in Augmented Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Holly C. Gagnon ◽  
Carlos Salas Rosales ◽  
Ryan Mileris ◽  
Jeanine K. Stefanucci ◽  
Sarah H. Creem-Regehr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Real World ◽  
Distance Measure ◽  
Distance Perception ◽  
Action Space ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Visual Matching ◽  
Microsoft Hololens ◽  
Real Person

Augmented reality ( AR ) is important for training complex tasks, such as navigation, assembly, and medical procedures. The effectiveness of such training may depend on accurate spatial localization of AR objects in the environment. This article presents two experiments that test egocentric distance perception in augmented reality within and at the boundaries of action space (up to 35 m) in comparison with distance perception in a matched real-world ( RW ) environment. Using the Microsoft HoloLens, in Experiment 1, participants in two different RW settings judged egocentric distances (ranging from 10 to 35 m) to an AR avatar or a real person using a visual matching measure. Distances to augmented targets were underestimated compared to real targets in the two indoor, RW contexts. Experiment 2 aimed to generalize the results to an absolute distance measure using verbal reports in one of the indoor environments. Similar to Experiment 1, distances to augmented targets were underestimated compared to real targets. We discuss these findings with respect to the importance of methodologies that directly compare performance in real and mediated environments, as well as the inherent differences present in mediated environments that are “matched” to the real world.

Auditory Distance Perception in Real, Virtual, and Mixed Environments

Mixed Reality ◽  
1999 ◽  
pp. 201-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Loomis ◽  
Roberta L. Klatzky ◽  
Reginald G. Golledge
Keyword(s):  
Distance Perception ◽  
Auditory Distance

scholarly journals The impact of visuospatial perception on distance judgment and depth perception in an Augmented Reality environment in patients after stroke: an exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Höhler ◽  
Nils David Rasamoel ◽  
Nina Rohrbach ◽  
John Paulin Hansen ◽  
Klaus Jahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Spatial Localization ◽  
Distance Judgment ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Visuospatial Perception ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Augmented Reality (AR)-based interventions are applied in neurorehabilitation with increasing frequency. Depth perception is required for the intended interaction within AR environments. Until now, however, it is unclear whether patients after stroke with impaired visuospatial perception (VSP) are able to perceive depth in the AR environment. Methods Different aspects of VSP (stereovision and spatial localization/visuoconstruction) were assessed in 20 patients after stroke (mean age: 64 ± 14 years) and 20 healthy subjects (HS, mean age: 28 ± 8 years) using clinical tests. The group of HS was recruited to assess the validity of the developed AR tasks in testing stereovision. To measure perception of holographic objects, three distance judgment tasks and one three-dimensionality task were designed. The effect of impaired stereovision on performance in each AR task was analyzed. AR task performance was modeled by aspects of VSP using separate regression analyses for HS and for patients. Results In HS, stereovision had a significant effect on the performance in all AR distance judgment tasks (p = 0.021, p = 0.002, p = 0.046) and in the three-dimensionality task (p = 0.003). Individual quality of stereovision significantly predicted the accuracy in each distance judgment task and was highly related to the ability to perceive holograms as three-dimensional (p = 0.001). In stroke-survivors, impaired stereovision had a specific deterioration effect on only one distance judgment task (p = 0.042), whereas the three-dimensionality task was unaffected (p = 0.317). Regression analyses confirmed a lacking impact of patients’ quality of stereovision on AR task performance, while spatial localization/visuoconstruction significantly prognosticated the accuracy in distance estimation of geometric objects in two AR tasks. Conclusion Impairments in VSP reduce the ability to estimate distance and to perceive three-dimensionality in an AR environment. While stereovision is key for task performance in HS, spatial localization/visuoconstruction is predominant in patients. Since impairments in VSP are present after stroke, these findings might be crucial when AR is applied for neurorehabilitative treatment. In order to maximize the therapy outcome, the design of AR games should be adapted to patients’ impaired VSP.  Trial registration: The trial was not registered, as it was an observational study.

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