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A toolbox for rendering virtual acoustic environments in the context of audiology

Giso Grimm, Joanna Luberadzka, Volker Hohmann

TL;DR

The general software structure and the time-domain simulation methods used to produce virtual acoustic environments with moving objects, i.e., transmission model, image source model, and render formats, are described.

Abstract

A toolbox for creation and rendering of dynamic virtual acoustic environments (TASCAR) that allows direct user interaction was developed for application in hearing aid research and audiology. This technical paper describes the general software structure and the time-domain simulation methods, i.e., transmission model, image source model, and render formats, used to produce virtual acoustic environments with moving objects. Implementation-specific properties are described, and the computational performance of the system was measured as a function of simulation complexity. Results show that on commercially available commonly used hardware the simulation of several hundred virtual sound sources is possible in the time domain.

A toolbox for rendering virtual acoustic environments in the context of audiology

TL;DR

The general software structure and the time-domain simulation methods used to produce virtual acoustic environments with moving objects, i.e., transmission model, image source model, and render formats, are described.

Abstract

A toolbox for creation and rendering of dynamic virtual acoustic environments (TASCAR) that allows direct user interaction was developed for application in hearing aid research and audiology. This technical paper describes the general software structure and the time-domain simulation methods, i.e., transmission model, image source model, and render formats, used to produce virtual acoustic environments with moving objects. Implementation-specific properties are described, and the computational performance of the system was measured as a function of simulation complexity. Results show that on commercially available commonly used hardware the simulation of several hundred virtual sound sources is possible in the time domain.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 23 sections, 22 equations, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Abstract
  2. Introduction
  3. General structure
  4. Simulation methods
  5. Implementation
  6. Performance measurements
  7. Validation and applications
  8. Summary and conclusions
  9. Acknowledgments

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: The major components of TASCAR are the audio player (a), the geometry processor (b), the acoustic model (c) and the rendering subsystem (d). Point sources and diffuse sources are the interface between the audio player and the acoustic model. Receivers are the interface between the acoustic model and the rendering subsystem.
  • Figure 2: Schematic sketch of the image model geometry. Left panel: 'specular' reflection, i.e., the image source is visible within the reflector; right panel: 'edge' reflection.
  • Figure 3: Example CPU load (i7-7567U@3.5GHz, HOA2D receiver, $P=1024$): Measured data (symbols) with model fit (Eq (\ref{['eq:cpuload']}), gray solid lines), for $N=8$ speakers (diamonds), $N=48$ speakers (circles) and $N=128$ speakers (squares). Vertical dashed lines indicate the maximum possible number of sources, Eq (\ref{['eq:kmax']}), for the given hardware.
  • Figure 4: Example applications of TASCAR and its interaction. Solid arrows indicate audio signals, dashed arrows represent control information, e.g., geometry data.