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Frederic L. Wightman

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Publications by Frederic L. Wightman (bibliography)

1991

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Wenzel, Elizabeth M., Wightman, Frederic L. and Kistler, Doris J. (1991): Localization with Non-Individualized Virtual Acoustic Display Cues. In: Robertson, Scott P., Olson, Gary M. and Olson, Judith S. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 91 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 28 - June 5, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana. pp. 351-359.

“A recent development in advanced interface technologies is the virtual acoustic display, a system that presents three-dimensional auditory information over headphones [20]. The utility of such a display depends on the accuracy with which listeners can localize the virtual, or simulated, sound sources. Synthesis of virtual sources involves the digital filtering of stimuli using filters based on acoustic Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) measured in human ear-canals. In practise, measurement of the HRTFs of each potential user of a 3-D display may not be feasible. Thus, a critical research question is whether listeners from the general population can obtain adequate localization cues stimuli based on non-individualized filters. In the present study, 16 inexperienced listeners judged the apparent spatial location (azimuth and elevation) of wideband noisebursts that were presented either over loudspeakers in the free-field (an anechoic or non-reverberent environment) or over headphones. The headphone stimuli were synthesized using HRTFs from a representative subject in a previous study [23]. Localization of both free-field and virtual sources was quite accurate for 12 of the subjects, 2 showed poor elevation accuracy in both free-field and headphone conditions, and 2 showed degraded elevation accuracy only with virtual sources. High rates of confusion errors (reversals in judgements of azimuth and elevation) were also observed for some of the subjects and tended to increase for the virtual sources. In general, the data suggest that most listeners can obtain useful directional information from an auditory display without requiring the use of individually-tailored HRTFs, particularly for the dimension of azimuth. However, the high rates of confusion errors remain problematic. Several stimulus characteristics which may help to minimize these errors are discussed.”

1988

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Wenzel, Elizabeth M., Wightman, Frederic L. and Foster, Scott H. (1988): Development of a Three Dimensional Auditory Display System. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 20 (2) pp. 52-57.

“We propose that the most powerful method of auditory cueing takes direct advantage of human perceptual capabilities, providing a dynamic, multidimensional pattern of events which conveys meaning about objects in the spatial world. Applications of such a three-dimensional auditory display involve any context in which the user's situational awareness is critical, particularly when visual cues are limited or absent. Examples include air traffic control displays, advanced teleconferencing environments, and monitoring telerobotic activities in hazardous situations. This type of display system requires the ability to generate localized sound cues in a flexible and dynamic manner. Whereas this can be achieved with an array of real sound sources or loudspeakers, the prototype device being developed at NASA-Ames maximizes flexibility and portability by synthetically generating three-dimensional sound cues in realtime for delivery through headphones. Unlike conventional stereo, sources can be perceived outside the head at discrete distances and directions from the listener. When completed, the device will be integrated with the Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation (VIEW), a head-mounted, wide-angle, stereoscopic display system controlled by operator position, voice, and gesture (Fisher, et. al. 1986). Previous research in psychoacoustics suggests that perceptually-veridical localization over headphones is possible if both the direction-dependent pinna cues and the more well understood cues of interaural time and intensity are adequately synthesized. Although the realtime device is not yet finished, recent studies at the University of Wisconsin have confirmed the perceptual adequacy of the basic approach to synthesis.”

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Wenzel, Elizabeth M., Wightman, Frederic L. and Foster, Scott H. (1988): A Virtual Display System for Conveying Three-Dimensional Acoustic Information. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting 1988. pp. 86-90.

“A three-dimensional auditory display could take advantage of intrinsic sensory abilities like localization and perceptual organization by generating dynamic, multidimensional patterns of acoustic events that convey meaning about objects in the spatial world. Applications involve any context in which the user's situational awareness is critical, particularly when visual cues are limited or absent; e.g., air traffic control or telerobotic activities in hazardous environments. Such a display would generate localized cues in a flexible and dynamic manner. Whereas this can be readily achieved with an array of real sound sources or loudspeakers, the NASA-Ames prototype maximizes flexibility and portability by synthetically generating three-dimensional sound in realtime for delivery through headphones. Psychoacoustic research suggests that perceptually-veridical localization over headphones is possible if both the direction-dependent pinna cues and the more well understood cues of interaural time and intensity are adequately synthesized. Although the realtime device is not yet complete, recent studies at the University of Wisconsin have confirmed the perceptual adequacy of the basic approach to synthesis.”

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