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Valzolgher C, Capra S, Gessa E, Rosi T, Giovanelli E, Pavani F. Sound localization in noisy contexts: performance, metacognitive evaluations and head movements. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2024; 9:4. [PMID: 38191869 PMCID: PMC10774233 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-023-00530-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Localizing sounds in noisy environments can be challenging. Here, we reproduce real-life soundscapes to investigate the effects of environmental noise on sound localization experience. We evaluated participants' performance and metacognitive assessments, including measures of sound localization effort and confidence, while also tracking their spontaneous head movements. Normal-hearing participants (N = 30) were engaged in a speech-localization task conducted in three common soundscapes that progressively increased in complexity: nature, traffic, and a cocktail party setting. To control visual information and measure behaviors, we used visual virtual reality technology. The results revealed that the complexity of the soundscape had an impact on both performance errors and metacognitive evaluations. Participants reported increased effort and reduced confidence for sound localization in more complex noise environments. On the contrary, the level of soundscape complexity did not influence the use of spontaneous exploratory head-related behaviors. We also observed that, irrespective of the noisy condition, participants who implemented a higher number of head rotations and explored a wider extent of space by rotating their heads made lower localization errors. Interestingly, we found preliminary evidence that an increase in spontaneous head movements, specifically the extent of head rotation, leads to a decrease in perceived effort and an increase in confidence at the single-trial level. These findings expand previous observations regarding sound localization in noisy environments by broadening the perspective to also include metacognitive evaluations, exploratory behaviors and their interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Valzolgher
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
| | - Sara Capra
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Elena Gessa
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Tommaso Rosi
- Department of Physics, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Elena Giovanelli
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Francesco Pavani
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
- Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca "Cognizione, Linguaggio e Sordità" (CIRCLeS), Trento, Italy
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2
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McLachlan G, Majdak P, Reijniers J, Mihocic M, Peremans H. Dynamic spectral cues do not affect human sound localization during small head movements. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1027827. [PMID: 36816108 PMCID: PMC9936143 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1027827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural listening involves a constant deployment of small head movement. Spatial listening is facilitated by head movements, especially when resolving front-back confusions, an otherwise common issue during sound localization under head-still conditions. The present study investigated which acoustic cues are utilized by human listeners to localize sounds using small head movements (below ±10° around the center). Seven normal-hearing subjects participated in a sound localization experiment in a virtual reality environment. Four acoustic cue stimulus conditions were presented (full spectrum, flattened spectrum, frozen spectrum, free-field) under three movement conditions (no movement, head rotations over the yaw axis and over the pitch axis). Localization performance was assessed using three metrics: lateral and polar precision error and front-back confusion rate. Analysis through mixed-effects models showed that even small yaw rotations provide a remarkable decrease in front-back confusion rate, whereas pitch rotations did not show much of an effect. Furthermore, MSS cues improved localization performance even in the presence of dITD cues. However, performance was similar between stimuli with and without dMSS cues. This indicates that human listeners utilize the MSS cues before the head moves, but do not rely on dMSS cues to localize sounds when utilizing small head movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glen McLachlan
- Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium,*Correspondence: Glen McLachlan ✉
| | - Piotr Majdak
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jonas Reijniers
- Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Michael Mihocic
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Herbert Peremans
- Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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3
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES We assessed if spatial hearing training improves sound localization in bilateral cochlear implant (BCI) users and whether its benefits can generalize to untrained sound localization tasks. DESIGN In 20 BCI users, we assessed the effects of two training procedures (spatial versus nonspatial control training) on two different tasks performed before and after training (head-pointing to sound and audiovisual attention orienting). In the spatial training, participants identified sound position by reaching toward the sound sources with their hand. In the nonspatial training, comparable reaching movements served to identify sound amplitude modulations. A crossover randomized design allowed comparison of training procedures within the same participants. Spontaneous head movements while listening to the sounds were allowed and tracked to correlate them with localization performance. RESULTS During spatial training, BCI users reduced their sound localization errors in azimuth and adapted their spontaneous head movements as a function of sound eccentricity. These effects generalized to the head-pointing sound localization task, as revealed by greater reduction of sound localization error in azimuth and more accurate first head-orienting response, as compared to the control nonspatial training. BCI users benefited from auditory spatial cues for orienting visual attention, but the spatial training did not enhance this multisensory attention ability. CONCLUSIONS Sound localization in BCI users improves with spatial reaching-to-sound training, with benefits to a nontrained sound localization task. These findings pave the way to novel rehabilitation procedures in clinical contexts.
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Dai D, Vasudevan AB, Matas J, Van Gool L. Binaural SoundNet: Predicting Semantics, Depth and Motion With Binaural Sounds. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE 2023; 45:123-136. [PMID: 35239475 DOI: 10.1109/tpami.2022.3155643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Humans can robustly recognize and localize objects by using visual and/or auditory cues. While machines are able to do the same with visual data already, less work has been done with sounds. This work develops an approach for scene understanding purely based on binaural sounds. The considered tasks include predicting the semantic masks of sound-making objects, the motion of sound-making objects, and the depth map of the scene. To this aim, we propose a novel sensor setup and record a new audio-visual dataset of street scenes with eight professional binaural microphones and a 360 °camera. The co-existence of visual and audio cues is leveraged for supervision transfer. In particular, we employ a cross-modal distillation framework that consists of multiple vision 'teacher' methods and a sound 'student' method - the student method is trained to generate the same results as the teacher methods do. This way, the auditory system can be trained without using human annotations. To further boost the performance, we propose another novel auxiliary task, coined Spatial Sound Super-Resolution, to increase the directional resolution of sounds. We then formulate the four tasks into one end-to-end trainable multi-tasking network aiming to boost the overall performance. Experimental results show that 1) our method achieves good results for all four tasks, 2) the four tasks are mutually beneficial - training them together achieves the best performance, 3) the number and orientation of microphones are both important, and 4) features learned from the standard spectrogram and features obtained by the classic signal processing pipeline are complementary for auditory perception tasks. The data and code are released on the project page: https://www.trace.ethz.ch/publications/2020/sound_perception/index.html.
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5
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Hamada N, Kunimura H, Matsuoka M, Oda H, Hiraoka K. Advanced cueing of auditory stimulus to the head induces body sway in the direction opposite to the stimulus site during quiet stance in male participants. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:1028700. [PMID: 36569476 PMCID: PMC9775284 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1028700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Under certain conditions, a tactile stimulus to the head induces the movement of the head away from the stimulus, and this is thought to be caused by a defense mechanism. In this study, we tested our hypothesis that predicting the stimulus site of the head in a quiet stance activates the defense mechanism, causing a body to sway to keep the head away from the stimulus. Fourteen healthy male participants aged 31.2 ± 6.8 years participated in this study. A visual cue predicting the forthcoming stimulus site (forehead, left side of the head, right side of the head, or back of the head) was given. Four seconds after this cue, an auditory or electrical tactile stimulus was given at the site predicted by the cue. The cue predicting the tactile stimulus site of the head did not induce a body sway. The cue predicting the auditory stimulus to the back of the head induced a forward body sway, and the cue predicting the stimulus to the forehead induced a backward body sway. The cue predicting the auditory stimulus to the left side of the head induced a rightward body sway, and the cue predicting the stimulus to the right side of the head induced a leftward body sway. These findings support our hypothesis that predicting the auditory stimulus site of the head induces a body sway in a quiet stance to keep the head away from the stimulus. The right gastrocnemius muscle contributes to the control of the body sway in the anterior-posterior axis related to this defense mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoki Hamada
- Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Habikino, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Kunimura
- Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Habikino, Japan
| | - Masakazu Matsuoka
- Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Habikino, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Oda
- Graduate School of Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Osaka Prefecture University, Habikino, Japan
| | - Koichi Hiraoka
- Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Habikino, Japan,*Correspondence: Koichi Hiraoka
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Gessa E, Giovanelli E, Spinella D, Verdelet G, Farnè A, Frau GN, Pavani F, Valzolgher C. Spontaneous head-movements improve sound localization in aging adults with hearing loss. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:1026056. [PMID: 36310849 PMCID: PMC9609159 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1026056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Moving the head while a sound is playing improves its localization in human listeners, in children and adults, with or without hearing problems. It remains to be ascertained if this benefit can also extend to aging adults with hearing-loss, a population in which spatial hearing difficulties are often documented and intervention solutions are scant. Here we examined performance of elderly adults (61-82 years old) with symmetrical or asymmetrical age-related hearing-loss, while they localized sounds with their head fixed or free to move. Using motion-tracking in combination with free-field sound delivery in visual virtual reality, we tested participants in two auditory spatial tasks: front-back discrimination and 3D sound localization in front space. Front-back discrimination was easier for participants with symmetrical compared to asymmetrical hearing-loss, yet both groups reduced their front-back errors when head-movements were allowed. In 3D sound localization, free head-movements reduced errors in the horizontal dimension and in a composite measure that computed errors in 3D space. Errors in 3D space improved for participants with asymmetrical hearing-impairment when the head was free to move. These preliminary findings extend to aging adults with hearing-loss the literature on the advantage of head-movements on sound localization, and suggest that the disparity of auditory cues at the two ears can modulate this benefit. These results point to the possibility of taking advantage of self-regulation strategies and active behavior when promoting spatial hearing skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Gessa
- Center for Mind/Brian Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Elena Giovanelli
- Center for Mind/Brian Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | | | - Grégoire Verdelet
- Integrative, Multisensory, Perception, Action and Cognition Team-IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Neuro-immersion, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Alessandro Farnè
- Center for Mind/Brian Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Integrative, Multisensory, Perception, Action and Cognition Team-IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Neuro-immersion, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | | | - Francesco Pavani
- Center for Mind/Brian Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Integrative, Multisensory, Perception, Action and Cognition Team-IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Chiara Valzolgher
- Center for Mind/Brian Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Integrative, Multisensory, Perception, Action and Cognition Team-IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience de Lyon, University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
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Gaveau V, Coudert A, Salemme R, Koun E, Desoche C, Truy E, Farnè A, Pavani F. Benefits of active listening during 3D sound localization. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:2817-2833. [PMID: 36071210 PMCID: PMC9587935 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06456-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In everyday life, sound localization entails more than just the extraction and processing of auditory cues. When determining sound position in three dimensions, the brain also considers the available visual information (e.g., visual cues to sound position) and resolves perceptual ambiguities through active listening behavior (e.g., spontaneous head movements while listening). Here, we examined to what extent spontaneous head movements improve sound localization in 3D—azimuth, elevation, and depth—by comparing static vs. active listening postures. To this aim, we developed a novel approach to sound localization based on sounds delivered in the environment, brought into alignment thanks to a VR system. Our system proved effective for the delivery of sounds at predetermined and repeatable positions in 3D space, without imposing a physically constrained posture, and with minimal training. In addition, it allowed measuring participant behavior (hand, head and eye position) in real time. We report that active listening improved 3D sound localization, primarily by ameliorating accuracy and variability of responses in azimuth and elevation. The more participants made spontaneous head movements, the better was their 3D sound localization performance. Thus, we provide proof of concept of a novel approach to the study of spatial hearing, with potentials for clinical and industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Gaveau
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France. .,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
| | - A Coudert
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,ENT Departments, Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant and Edouard Herriot University Hospitals, Lyon, France
| | - R Salemme
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,Neuro-immersion, Lyon, France
| | - E Koun
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - C Desoche
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,Neuro-immersion, Lyon, France
| | - E Truy
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,ENT Departments, Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant and Edouard Herriot University Hospitals, Lyon, France
| | - A Farnè
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,Neuro-immersion, Lyon, France
| | - F Pavani
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team-ImpAct, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS U5292, 16 Av. Doyen Lépine, BRON cedex, 69500, Lyon, France.,University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France.,Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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8
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Derleth P, Georganti E, Latzel M, Courtois G, Hofbauer M, Raether J, Kuehnel V. Binaural Signal Processing in Hearing Aids. Semin Hear 2021; 42:206-223. [PMID: 34594085 PMCID: PMC8463127 DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1735176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
For many years, clinicians have understood the advantages of listening with two ears compared with one. In addition to improved speech intelligibility in quiet, noisy, and reverberant environments, binaural versus monaural listening improves perceived sound quality and decreases the effort listeners must expend to understand a target voice of interest or to monitor a multitude of potential target voices. For most individuals with bilateral hearing impairment, the body of evidence collected across decades of research has also found that the provision of two compared with one hearing aid yields significant benefit for the user. This article briefly summarizes the major advantages of binaural compared with monaural hearing, followed by a detailed description of the related technological advances in modern hearing aids. Aspects related to the communication and exchange of data between the left and right hearing aids are discussed together with typical algorithmic approaches implemented in modern hearing aids.
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Head-Related Transfer Functions for Dynamic Listeners in Virtual Reality. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/app11146646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In dynamic virtual reality, visual cues and motor actions aid auditory perception. With multimodal integration and auditory adaptation effects, generic head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) may yield no significant disadvantage to individual HRTFs regarding accurate auditory perception. This study compares two individual HRTF sets against a generic HRTF set by way of objective analysis and two subjective experiments. First, auditory-model-based predictions examine the objective deviations in localization cues between the sets. Next, the HRTFs are compared in a static subjective (N=8) localization experiment. Finally, the localization accuracy, timbre, and overall quality of the HRTF sets are evaluated subjectively (N=12) in a six-degrees-of-freedom audio-visual virtual environment. The results show statistically significant objective deviations between the sets, but no perceived localization or overall quality differences in the dynamic virtual reality.
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10
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Wijesinghe LP, Wohlgemuth MJ, So RHY, Triesch J, Moss CF, Shi BE. Active head rolls enhance sonar-based auditory localization performance. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008973. [PMID: 33970912 PMCID: PMC8136848 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals utilize a variety of active sensing mechanisms to perceive the world around them. Echolocating bats are an excellent model for the study of active auditory localization. The big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), for instance, employs active head roll movements during sonar prey tracking. The function of head rolls in sound source localization is not well understood. Here, we propose an echolocation model with multi-axis head rotation to investigate the effect of active head roll movements on sound localization performance. The model autonomously learns to align the bat's head direction towards the target. We show that a model with active head roll movements better localizes targets than a model without head rolls. Furthermore, we demonstrate that active head rolls also reduce the time required for localization in elevation. Finally, our model offers key insights to sound localization cues used by echolocating bats employing active head movements during echolocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lakshitha P. Wijesinghe
- Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Richard H. Y. So
- Department of Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
| | - Jochen Triesch
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Cynthia F. Moss
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - Bertram E. Shi
- Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
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11
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Pausch F, Fels J. Localization Performance in a Binaural Real-Time Auralization System Extended to Research Hearing Aids. Trends Hear 2020; 24:2331216520908704. [PMID: 32324491 PMCID: PMC7198834 DOI: 10.1177/2331216520908704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Auralization systems for auditory research should ideally be validated by perceptual experiments, as well as objective measures. This study employed perceptual tests to evaluate a recently proposed binaural real-time auralization system for hearing aid (HA) users. The dynamic localization of real sound sources was compared with that of virtualized ones, reproduced binaurally over headphones, loudspeakers with crosstalk cancellation (CTC) filters, research HAs, or combined via loudspeakers with CTC filters and research HAs under free-field conditions. System-inherent properties affecting localization cues were identified and their effects on overall horizontal localization, reversal rates, and angular error metrics were assessed. The general localization performance in combined reproduction was found to fall between what was measured for loudspeakers with CTC filters and research HAs alone. Reproduction via research HAs alone resulted in the highest reversal rates and angular errors. While combined reproduction helped decrease the reversal rates, no significant effect was observed on the angular error metrics. However, combined reproduction resulted in the same overall horizontal source localization performance as measured for real sound sources, while improving localization compared with reproduction over research HAs alone. Collectively, the results with respect to combined reproduction can be considered a performance indicator for future experiments involving HA users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Pausch
- Teaching and Research Area of Medical Acoustics, Institute of Technical Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University
| | - Janina Fels
- Teaching and Research Area of Medical Acoustics, Institute of Technical Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University
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12
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Mieda T, Kokubu M. Blind footballers direct their head towards an approaching ball during ball trapping. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20246. [PMID: 33219244 PMCID: PMC7679380 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77049-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In blind football, players predict the sound location of a ball to underpin the success of ball trapping. It is currently unknown whether blind footballers use head movements as a strategy for trapping a moving ball. This study investigated characteristics of head rotations in blind footballers during ball trapping compared to sighted nonathletes. Participants performed trapping an approaching ball using their right foot. Head and trunk rotation angles in the sagittal plane, and head rotation angles in the horizontal plane were measured during ball trapping. The blind footballers showed a larger downward head rotation angle, as well as higher performance at the time of ball trapping than did the sighted nonathletes. However, no significant differences between the groups were found with regards to the horizontal head rotation angle and the downward trunk rotation angle. The blind footballers consistently showed a larger relative angle of downward head rotation from an early time point after ball launching to the moment of ball trapping. These results suggest that blind footballers couple downward head rotation with the movement of an approaching ball, to ensure that the ball is kept in a consistent egocentric direction relative to the head throughout ball trapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takumi Mieda
- Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8574, Japan.
| | - Masahiro Kokubu
- Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8574, Japan
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Valzolgher C, Verdelet G, Salemme R, Lombardi L, Gaveau V, Farné A, Pavani F. Reaching to sounds in virtual reality: A multisensory-motor approach to promote adaptation to altered auditory cues. Neuropsychologia 2020; 149:107665. [PMID: 33130161 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
When localising sounds in space the brain relies on internal models that specify the correspondence between the auditory input reaching the ears, initial head-position and coordinates in external space. These models can be updated throughout life, setting the basis for re-learning spatial hearing abilities in adulthood. In addition, strategic behavioural adjustments allow people to quickly adapt to atypical listening situations. Until recently, the potential role of dynamic listening, involving head-movements or reaching to sounds, have remained largely overlooked. Here, we exploited visual virtual reality (VR) and real-time kinematic tracking, to study the role of active multisensory-motor interactions when hearing individuals adapt to altered binaural cues (one ear plugged and muffed). Participants were immersed in a VR scenario showing 17 virtual speakers at ear-level. In each trial, they heard a sound delivered from a real speaker aligned with one of the virtual ones and were instructed to either reach-to-touch the perceived sound source (Reaching group), or read the label associated with the speaker (Naming group). Participants were free to move their heads during the task and received audio-visual feedback on their performance. Most importantly, they performed the task under binaural or monaural listening. Results show that both groups adapted rapidly to monaural listening, improving sound localisation performance across trials and changing their head-movement behaviour. Reaching the sounds induced faster and larger sound localisation improvements, compared to just naming its position. This benefit was linked to progressively wider head-movements to explore auditory space, selectively in the Reaching group. In conclusion, reaching to sounds in an immersive visual VR context proved most effective for adapting to altered binaural listening. Head-movements played an important role in adaptation, pointing to the importance of dynamic listening when implementing training protocols for improving spatial hearing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Valzolgher
- IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France; Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy.
| | | | - Romeo Salemme
- IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France; Neuro-immersion, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France
| | - Luigi Lombardi
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Italy
| | - Valerie Gaveau
- IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France
| | - Alessandro Farné
- IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France; Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy; Neuro-immersion, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France
| | - Francesco Pavani
- IMPACT, Centre de Recherche en Neuroscience Lyon (CRNL), France; Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy; Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Italy
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Liu Y, Stiles NRB, Meister M. Augmented reality powers a cognitive assistant for the blind. eLife 2018; 7:e37841. [PMID: 30479270 PMCID: PMC6257813 DOI: 10.7554/elife.37841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 10/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
To restore vision for the blind, several prosthetic approaches have been explored that convey raw images to the brain. So far, these schemes all suffer from a lack of bandwidth. An alternate approach would restore vision at the cognitive level, bypassing the need to convey sensory data. A wearable computer captures video and other data, extracts important scene knowledge, and conveys that to the user in compact form. Here, we implement an intuitive user interface for such a device using augmented reality: each object in the environment has a voice and communicates with the user on command. With minimal training, this system supports many aspects of visual cognition: obstacle avoidance, scene understanding, formation and recall of spatial memories, navigation. Blind subjects can traverse an unfamiliar multi-story building on their first attempt. To spur further development in this domain, we developed an open-source environment for standardized benchmarking of visual assistive devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- Division of Biology and Biological EngineeringCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaUnited States
- Computation and Neural Systems ProgramCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaUnited States
| | - Noelle RB Stiles
- Division of Biology and Biological EngineeringCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaUnited States
- Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics, Keck School of MedicineUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Markus Meister
- Division of Biology and Biological EngineeringCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaUnited States
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15
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Kreilinger A, Georgi T, Pregartner G, Ivastinovic D, Pichler T, Berghold A, Velikay-Parel M. Quantifying the impact on navigation performance in visually impaired: Auditory information loss versus information gain enabled through electronic travel aids. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196156. [PMID: 29698428 PMCID: PMC5919575 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This study’s purpose was to analyze and quantify the impact of auditory information loss versus information gain provided by electronic travel aids (ETAs) on navigation performance in people with low vision. Navigation performance of ten subjects (age: 54.9±11.2 years) with visual acuities >1.0 LogMAR was assessed via the Graz Mobility Test (GMT). Subjects passed through a maze in three different modalities: ‘Normal’ with visual and auditory information available, ‘Auditory Information Loss’ with artificially reduced hearing (leaving only visual information), and ‘ETA’ with a vibrating ETA based on ultrasonic waves, thereby facilitating visual, auditory, and tactile information. Main performance measures comprised passage time and number of contacts. Additionally, head tracking was used to relate head movements to motion direction. When comparing ‘Auditory Information Loss’ to ‘Normal’, subjects needed significantly more time (p<0.001), made more contacts (p<0.001), had higher relative viewing angles (p = 0.002), and a higher percentage of orientation losses (p = 0.011). The only significant difference when comparing ‘ETA’ to ‘Normal’ was a reduced number of contacts (p<0.001). Our study provides objective, quantifiable measures of the impact of reduced hearing on the navigation performance in low vision subjects. Significant effects of ‘Auditory Information Loss’ were found for all measures; for example, passage time increased by 17.4%. These findings show that low vision subjects rely on auditory information for navigation. In contrast, the impact of the ETA was not significant but further analysis of head movements revealed two different coping strategies: half of the subjects used the ETA to increase speed, whereas the other half aimed at avoiding contacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Kreilinger
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Ophthalmology, Graz, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Thomas Georgi
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Ophthalmology, Graz, Austria
| | - Gudrun Pregartner
- Medical University of Graz, Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Graz, Austria
| | | | - Tamara Pichler
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Ophthalmology, Graz, Austria
| | - Andrea Berghold
- Medical University of Graz, Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Graz, Austria
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16
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Archer-Boyd AW, Holman JA, Brimijoin WO. The minimum monitoring signal-to-noise ratio for off-axis signals and its implications for directional hearing aids. Hear Res 2017; 357:64-72. [PMID: 29223929 PMCID: PMC5759949 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2017.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) benefit of hearing aid directional microphones is dependent on the angle of the listener relative to the target, something that can change drastically and dynamically in a typical group conversation. When a new target signal is significantly off-axis, directional microphones lead to slower target orientation, more complex movements, and more reversals. This raises the question of whether there is an optimal design for directional microphones. In principle an ideal microphone would provide the user with sufficient directionality to help with speech understanding, but not attenuate off-axis signals so strongly that orienting to new signals was difficult or impossible. We investigated the latter part of this question. In order to measure the minimal monitoring SNR for reliable orientation to off-axis signals, we measured head-orienting behaviour towards targets of varying SNRs and locations for listeners with mild to moderate bilateral symmetrical hearing loss. Listeners were required to turn and face a female talker in background noise and movements were tracked using a head-mounted crown and infrared system that recorded yaw in a ring of loudspeakers. The target appeared randomly at ± 45, 90 or 135° from the start point. The results showed that as the target SNR decreased from 0 dB to −18 dB, first movement duration and initial misorientation count increased, then fixation error, and finally reversals increased. Increasing the target angle increased movement duration at all SNRs, decreased reversals (above −12 dB target SNR), and had little to no effect on initial misorientations. These results suggest that listeners experience some difficulty orienting towards sources as the target SNR drops below −6 dB, and that if one intends to make a directional microphone that is usable in a moving conversation, then off-axis attenuation should be no more than 12 dB. Investigated the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to localize a target. Head movement to targets at varying SNRs and locations was measured. Orienting towards a new off-axis target became difficult below −6 dB SNR. An ideal directional microphone should not attenuate off-axis sources by > 12 dB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan W Archer-Boyd
- MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research (Scottish Section), Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 10-16 Alexandra Parade, Glasgow, G31 2ER, UK; MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK.
| | - Jack A Holman
- MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research (Scottish Section), Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 10-16 Alexandra Parade, Glasgow, G31 2ER, UK
| | - W Owen Brimijoin
- MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research (Scottish Section), Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 10-16 Alexandra Parade, Glasgow, G31 2ER, UK
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17
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Brinkmann F, Lindau A, Weinzierl S. On the authenticity of individual dynamic binaural synthesis. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2017; 142:1784. [PMID: 29092593 DOI: 10.1121/1.5005606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
A simulation that is perceptually indistinguishable from the corresponding real sound field could be termed authentic. Using binaural technology, such a simulation would theoretically be achieved by reconstructing the sound pressure at a listener's ears. However, inevitable errors in the measurement, rendering, and reproduction introduce audible degradations, as it has been demonstrated in previous studies for anechoic environments and static binaural simulations (fixed head orientation). The current study investigated the authenticity of individual dynamic binaural simulations for three different acoustic environments (anechoic, dry, wet) using a highly sensitive listening test design. The results show that about half of the participants failed to reliably detect any differences for a speech stimulus, whereas all participants were able to do so for pulsed pink noise. Higher detection rates were observed in the anechoic condition, compared to the reverberant spaces, while the source position had no significant effect. It is concluded that the authenticity mainly depends on how comprehensive the spectral cues are provided by the audio content, and the amount of reverberation, whereas the source position plays a minor role. This is confirmed by a broad qualitative evaluation, suggesting that remaining differences mainly affect the tone color rather than the spatial, temporal or dynamical qualities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Brinkmann
- Audio Communication Group, Technical University of Berlin, Einsteinufer 17 c, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexander Lindau
- Audio Communication Group, Technical University of Berlin, Einsteinufer 17 c, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Weinzierl
- Audio Communication Group, Technical University of Berlin, Einsteinufer 17 c, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
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18
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Brungart DS, Cohen JI, Zion D, Romigh G. The localization of non-individualized virtual sounds by hearing impaired listeners. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2017; 141:2870. [PMID: 28464685 DOI: 10.1121/1.4979462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Although many studies have evaluated the performance of virtual audio displays with normal hearing listeners, very little information is available on the effect that hearing loss has on the localization of virtual sounds. In this study, normal hearing (NH) and hearing impaired (HI) listeners were asked to localize noise stimuli with short (250 ms), medium (1000 ms), and long (4000 ms) durations both in the free field and with a non-individualized head-tracked virtual audio display. The results show that the HI listeners localized sounds less accurately than the NH listeners, and that both groups consistently localized virtual sounds less accurately than free-field sounds. These results indicate that HI listeners are sensitive to individual differences in head related transfer functions (HRTFs), which means that they might have difficulty using auditory display systems that rely on generic HRTFs to control the apparent locations of virtual sounds. However, the results also reveal a high correlation between free-field and virtual localization performance in the HI listeners. This suggests that it may be feasible to use non-individualized virtual audio display systems to predict the auditory localization performance of HI listeners in clinical environments where free-field speaker arrays are not available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas S Brungart
- National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20889, USA
| | - Julie I Cohen
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, 6720A Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817, USA
| | - Danielle Zion
- National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20889, USA
| | - Griffin Romigh
- Air Force Research Laboratory, 2610 Seventh Street, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, USA
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20
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Baumgartner R, Majdak P. Modeling Localization of Amplitude-Panned Virtual Sources in Sagittal Planes. JOURNAL OF THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY. AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY 2015; 63:562-569. [PMID: 26441471 PMCID: PMC4591473 DOI: 10.17743/jaes.2015.0063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Vector-base amplitude panning (VBAP) aims at creating virtual sound sources at arbitrary directions within multichannel sound reproduction systems. However, VBAP does not consistently produce listener-specific monaural spectral cues that are essential for localization of sound sources in sagittal planes, including the front-back and up-down dimensions. In order to better understand the limitations of VBAP, a functional model approximating human processing of spectro-spatial information was applied to assess accuracy in sagittal-plane localization of virtual sources created by means of VBAP. First, we evaluated VBAP applied on two loudspeakers in the median plane, and then we investigated the directional dependence of the localization accuracy in several three-dimensional loudspeaker arrangements designed in layers of constant elevation. The model predicted a strong dependence on listeners' individual head-related transfer functions, on virtual source directions, and on loudspeaker arrangements. In general, the simulations showed a systematic degradation with increasing polar-angle span between neighboring loudspeakers. For the design of VBAP systems, predictions suggest that spans up to 40° polar angle yield a good trade-off between system complexity and localization accuracy. Special attention should be paid to the frontal region where listeners are most sensitive to deviating spectral cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Baumgartner
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Piotr Majdak
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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