Accession Number:
ADA454168
Title:
The Effect of Spectral Variation on Sound Localisation
Descriptive Note:
Research rept.
Corporate Author:
DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA) AIR OPERATIONS DIV
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
2006-03-01
Pagination or Media Count:
26.0
Abstract:
Previous research has suggested that spatialised auditory displays will enhance operator performance in many military settings. It is well known that a sounds spectrum must be broad and relatively flat for the sound to be accurately localised. The study described here examined the effect of systematically varying the evenness of a sounds spectrum on the accuracy with which the sound can be localised. Six participants localised spectrally scrambled sounds produced by setting the sound levels in the 98-, 391- or 1562-Hz wide frequency bands comprising a broadband 0-25 kHz sound to random values within a 0-, 20-, 40- or 60-dB range. Localisation errors were found to increase with increases in both bandwidth and band-level range. Scrambling the spectra of sounds over a 60 dB range led to as much as a doubling of mean elevation error and a trebling of frontback confusion rate. The accuracy with which these sounds could be localised was found to be highly correlated with a simple measure of spectral variation. The results of this study inform the development of guidelines for designing localisable sounds to be used in spatialised auditory displays.
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Acoustics
- Atomic and Molecular Physics and Spectroscopy