Domains of Practical Applicability for Parametric Interpolation Methods for Virtual Sound Field Navigation

Abstract

Suitable domains are established for the practical application of two state-of-the-art parametric interpolation methods for virtual navigation of ambisonics-encoded sound fields. Although several navigational methods have been developed, existing studies rarely include comparisons between methods and, significantly, practical assessments of such methods have been limited. To that end, the errors introduced by both methods are objectively evaluated, in terms of metrics for sound level, spectral coloration, source localization, and diffuseness, through numerical simulations. Various practical domains are subsequently identified, and guidelines are established with which to choose between these methods based on their intended application. Results show that the first method, which entails a time-frequency analysis of the sound field, is preferable for large-area recordings and when spatial localization accuracy is critical, as this method achieves superior localization performance (compared to the second method) with sparsely distributed microphones. However, the second method, which parametrically excludes from the interpolation any microphones that are farther from the listening position than is any source, is shown to be more suitable for applications in which sound quality attributes such as coloration and diffuseness are critical, since this method achieves smaller spectral errors with sparsely distributed microphones and smaller diffuseness errors under all conditions.

Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Parametric Spatial Audio Based on One Monaural Room Impulse Response

“…More recently proposed methods for 6-DoF rendering typically require at least one [7,8] or even multiple SRIRs [9,10] from different positions in the room and apply extrapolation based on one SRIR or interpolation between the distributed SRIRs to incorporate listener translation. How-ever 6-DoF rendering based on a parametric description of the sound field at one position in the space, encoded from a single RIR measurement, is rare.…”

“…Recent work extended those methods to render the sound field for 6 DoF and thus for arbitrary head orientations and room positions of the listener. The methods typically require at least one or even multiple SRIRs from different positions in the room and derive a description of the sound field at arbitrary positions by extrapolation based on one SRIR (e.g., [7,8]) or by interpolation between the distributed SRIR measurements (e.g., [9,10]). For a comprehensive overview of 6-DoF rendering methods please refer to [10].…”

Sound Field Translation and Mixed Source Model for Virtual Applications with Perceptual Validation

“…to the binaural signals in (11), allows for the listener to dynamically move their acoustic perspective by…”

“…These are an interpolationbased [8] and an extrapolation-based approach [9]. Interpolation approaches utilize a grid of higher order microphones distributed about the acoustic space, and interpolate the sound to the listener during reproduction [10], [11]. Better coloration and localization performance is expected from interpolation than extrapolation [8].…”

Particle-filter tracking of sounds for frequency-independent 3D audio rendering from distributed B-format recordings

“…Multi-perspective recordings also permit perspective interpolation methods with information about source locations staying implicit. Tylka and Choueiri [24][25][26] proposed interpolatory spherical-harmonic re-expansion at low frequencies for multi-perspective firstor higher-order Ambisonic recordings. Similar to the simplified treatment of high-frequencies in Tylka et al, there is also a number of simplistic broadband signal interpolation methods working in the time domain, only.…”