Binaural synthesis, head-related transfer functions, and uses thereof

摘要

The invention relates to improved methods and apparatus for simulating the transmission of sound from sound sources to the ear canals of a listener, said sound sources being positioned arbitrarily in three dimensions in relation to the listener. In particular, the invention relates to new and improved methods for measurement of Head-related Transfer Functions, new and improved Head-related Transfer Functions, new and improved methods for processing Head-related Transfer Functions, and new methods of changing, or of maintaining, the directions of the sound sources as perceived by a listener. The measurement method have been improved so that it is now possible to measure and/or construct Head-related Transfer Functions for which the time domain descriptions are surprisingly short and for which the differences from one individual to the other are surprisingly low. The new Head-related Transfer Functions can be exploited in any application concerning simulation of sound transmission, e.g. auralization of concert halls, measurement, simulation, or reproduction of sound, such as in binaural synthesis, e.g. for generation, by means of two sound sources, such as by headphones or by two loudspeakers, the perception of a listener that he is listening to sound generated by a multichannel sound system, such as a surround system, a quadraphonic system, a stereophonic system, etc, in the design of electronic filters used in, e.g. virtual reality systems, to simulate sound transmission from a virtual sound source to the ear canals of the listener, or, in the design of an artificial head that is designed so that its Head-related Transfer Functions approximate the Head-related Transfer Functions of the invention as closely as possible in order to make the best possible representation of humans by the artificial head, e.g. to make artificial head recordings of optimum quality. <IMAGE>