Distance rendering and perception of nearby virtual sound sources with a near-field filter model

Headphone rendering of nearby virtual sound sources represents to date an open issue in 3-D audio, due to a number of technical challenges and temporal requirements involved in the measurement of individual Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs). In order to tackle this problem, we propose a filter model of near-field effects based on the Distance Variation Function (Kan et al., 2009). Thanks to its simple structure and low order, the model can be applied to any far-field virtual auditory display to yield a realistic and computationally efficient near-field compensation of spectral and binaural effects. The model is subjectively evaluated in two psychophysical experiments where the relative distance of pairs of virtually rendered sound sources is judged. Results show that even though sound intensity overshadows subtler near-field effects when it is available as a cue for distance, the model is capable of offering relative distance information of near lateral virtual sources when intensity cues are removed. Furthermore, performances of the model in relative distance rendering are compared to those of alternative near-field rendering methods available in the literature.     

虚拟声技术及其应用(上)

本文综述了虚拟声技术及其应用。在简单回顾了有关虚拟声的心理声学基础后，论述和分析了耳机和扬声器重发虚拟声的基本原理和基本的缺陷，总结了近年所提出的虚拟声的改进方法，最后探讨了虚拟声在科学研究、工程技术和消费电子领域的各种应用。     

采用无耳壳头相关传输函数的虚拟声信号处理

本文提出采用无耳壳、封闭耳道的头相关传输函数（HRTF）进行虚拟声信号处理的方法。理论分析表明，在包含功率均衡的扬声器虚拟声信号处理中，采用无耳壳、封闭耳道的头相关传输函数可有效地减少信号处理函数的谷点，从而减少声重发的音色改变。心理声学的实验结果表明，新处理方法的声像定位与传统的带耳壳、耳道的HRTF处理无显著区别，但音色较后者有所改善。因而新的方法更适合实际的虚拟声信号处理应用。     

Spatial sound resolution of an interpolated HRIR library

The paper evaluates the human directional resolution of virtual sound sources synthesised with the aid of a generalised head related impulse response (HRIR) library, i.e., an HRIR library measured using a dummy head and torso. The original HRIR set is first expanded using linear interpolation, and then directional resolution measurements are performed for playback through headphones. These results are compared to the results obtained using loudspeakers as sound sources in an anechoic chamber. Directional resolution is the ability of listeners to distinguish two closely-spaced sound sources alternately playing the same signal. Experiments show that two sound sources with insufficient spacing appear as a single source to the listener. Directional resolution for small azimuth changes is relatively high for both virtual and real sound sources. Most test subjects have no problem resolving two sound sources only 5° apart. Compared to real sound sources, detecting changes in elevation of virtual sound sources is much less accurate, which may be the main drawback of using a generalised HRIR library.     

头部尺寸对虚拟声像定位的影响

本利用立体声像的相关理论分析方法，分析了用扬声器重发虚拟声时，倾听的头部尺寸对声像定位的影响。结果表明,当实际倾听的头部尺寸与虚拟声信号处理所用头部模型的尺寸有差别时，前方范围内的声像位置畸变较小，但侧向的声像位置畸变较大，因而本特别指出，倾听头部尺寸的不同是虚拟声重发时侧向的声像位置畸变的重要原因，声像定位实验证实了理论分析。     

电声学科的跨越特点和应用进展

本文综述了电声学科由于具有跨越科学与艺术两大领域和跨越多种学科的性质所带来的研究和应用特点,提出了几项近些年值得重视的应用领域和可能发展趋势,希望引起同仁讨论。鉴于我国在其中有些方面有突出成绩,本文将特别加以介绍,也希望得到大家的关心。本文还有一个附带的期望：促进非电声学科的声学工作者了解和关心电声学科的核心。