In the present work, we investigate whether individual Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) have different relevance for varying applications in virtual environments (VE). For this purpose, numerically simulated HRTFs based on 3D scans of 40 participants are compared with a generic KEMAR HRTF and the HRTF of a simplified spherical model in three scenarios: speech perception in a cocktail party situation, music perception in a virtual concert hall, and spatial sound localization accuracy in an anechoic chamber. The results show that the individual HRTFs have a slight advantage, especially in the cocktail party situation and in sound localization. The relevance of individual HRTFs also seems to partly depend on the degree of musical sophistication of the participants.

Authors: Oehler, Michael; do V.M. da Costa, Maurício; Regener, Marlon; Minh Voong, Tray
Affiliation: Osnabrück University, Germany
AES Conference: 2022 AES International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality (August 2022)
Paper Number: 34
Publication Date: August 15, 2022
Subject: Paper

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