PT Journal
AU Störig, C
   Pörschmann, C
TI Investigations into Velocity and Distance Perception Based on Different Types of Moving Sound Sources with Respect to Auditory Virtual Environments
SO JVRB - Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting
PY 2014
VL 10(2013)
IS 4
DI 10.20385/1860-2037/10.2013.4
DE Auditory Scene Analysis; Auralization; Doppler Shift; Moving Sound Source; Spatial Hearing
AB The characteristics of moving sound sources havestrong implications on the listener's distance perceptionand the estimation of velocity. Modifications of the typicalsound emissions as they are currently occurring due to thetendency towards electromobility have an impact on thepedestrian's safety in road traffic. Thus, investigations ofthe relevant cues for velocity and distance perception ofmoving sound sources are not only of interest forthe psychoacoustic community, but also for severalapplications, like e.g. virtual reality, noise pollution andsafety aspects of road traffic.This article describes a series of psychoacousticexperiments in this field. Dichotic and diotic stimuliof a set of real-life recordings taken from a passing     passenger car and a motorcycle were presented to  test subjects who in turn were asked to determine  the velocity of the object and its minimal distance  from the listener. The results of these psychoacoustic  experiments show that the estimated velocity is strongly  linked to the object's distance. Furthermore, it could be  shown that binaural cues contribute significantly to the  perception of velocity. In a further experiment, it was  shown that - independently of the type of the vehicle  - the main parameter for distance determination is  the maximum sound pressure level at the listener's  position.  The article suggests a system architecture for the adequate  consideration of moving sound sources in virtual auditory  environments. Virtual environments can thus be used to  investigate the influence of new vehicle powertrain  concepts and the related sound emissions of these vehicles  on the pedestrians' ability to estimate the distance and  velocity of moving objects.
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