Co-Immersion in Audio Augmented Virtuality: The Case Study of a Static and Approximated Late Reverberation Algorithm.

In immersive Audio Augmented Reality, a virtual sound source should be indistinguishable from the existing real ones. This property can be evaluated with the co-immersion criterion, which encompasses scenes constituted by arbitrary configurations of real and virtual objects. Thus, we introduce the term Audio Augmented Virtuality (AAV) to describe a fully virtual environment consisting of auditory content captured from the real world, augmented by synthetic sound generation.

Action planning and affective states within the auditory peripersonal space in normal hearing and cochlear-implanted listeners.

Fast reaction to approaching stimuli is vital for survival. When sounds enter the auditory peripersonal space (PPS), sounds perceived as being nearer elicit higher motor cortex activation. There is a close relationship between motor preparation and the perceptual components of sounds, particularly of highly arousing sounds.

Pinna-related transfer functions and lossless wave equation using finite-difference methods: Validation with measurements.

Nowadays, wave-based simulations of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) lack strong justifications to replace HRTF measurements. The main cause is the complex interactions between uncertainties and biases in both simulated and measured HRTFs. This paper deals with the validation of pinna-related high-frequency information in the ipsilateral directions-of-arrival, computed by lossless wave-based simulations with finite-difference models.

Superhuman Hearing - Virtual Prototyping of Artificial Hearing: a Case Study on Interactions and Acoustic Beamforming.

Directivity and gain in microphone array systems for hearing aids or hearable devices allow users to acoustically enhance the information of a source of interest. This source is usually positioned directly in front. This feature is called acoustic beamforming.

Pinna-related transfer functions and lossless wave equation using finite-difference methods: Verification and asymptotic solution.

A common approach when employing discrete mathematical models is to assess the reliability and credibility of the computation of interest through a process known as solution verification. Present-day computed head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) seem to lack robust and reliable assessments of the numerical errors embedded in the results which makes validation of wave-based models difficult. This process requires a good understanding of the involved sources of error which are systematically reviewed here.

Cervical Spine Motion During Vehicle Extrication of Healthy Volunteers.

Prehospital spinal motion restriction as a prevention technique for secondary neurological injury is a key principle in emergency medicine. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of different cervical spinal cord motion restriction techniques of awake and cooperative healthy volunteers during extrication. Twenty-three healthy volunteers were asked to exit a car (unassisted) with a rigid cervical collar (CC condition) or without it (autonomous exit: AE; instructed exit: IE); they were also extricated by two rescuers after setting a rigid cervical collar and by using an extrication device (CC + XT condition).

Auditory Feedback for Navigation with Echoes in Virtual Environments: Training Procedure and Orientation Strategies.

Being able to hear objects in an environment, for example using echolocation, is a challenging task. The main goal of the current work is to use virtual environments (VEs) to train novice users to navigate using echolocation. Previous studies have shown that musicians are able to differentiate sound pulses from reflections.

Sonic Interactions in Virtual Reality: State of the Art, Current Challenges, and Future Directions.

A high-fidelity but efficient sound simulation is an essential element of any VR experience. Many of the techniques used in virtual acoustics are graphical rendering techniques suitably modified to account for sound generation and propagation. In recent years, several advances in hardware and software technologies have been facilitating the development of immersive interactive sound-rendering experiences.

Influence of voxelization on finite difference time domain simulations of head-related transfer functions.

The scattering around the human pinna that is captured by the Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) is a complex problem that creates uncertainties in both acoustical measurements and simulations. Within the simulation framework of Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) with axis-aligned staircase boundaries resulting from a voxelization process, the voxelization-based uncertainty propagating in the HRTF-captured sound field is quantified for one solid and two surface voxelization algorithms. Simulated results utilizing a laser-scanned mesh of Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) show that in the context of complex geometries with local topology comparable to grid spacing such as the human pinna, the voxelization-related uncertainties in simulations emerge at lower frequencies than the generally used accuracy bandwidths.

Absence of modulatory action on haptic height perception with musical pitch.

Although acoustic frequency is not a spatial property of physical objects, in common language, pitch, i.e., the psychological correlated of frequency, is often labeled spatially (i.