Concept and Design of an Auditory Localization Cue Synthesizer.
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to develop the concept and basic design for an auditory localization cue synthesizer. This technology has the potential for greatly reducing threat acquisition times in hostile ground-to-air missile scenarios by providing the pilot with a heads-up localizable auditory warning over his headset. This warning allows the pilot to quickly and naturally determine the location of the threat and take the necessary evasive actions. The pertinent literature was reviewed and used to form the basis of the concept a to generate localization cues over headphones utilizing real-time solid state processor. The synthesizer accepts a single monaural input and processes the signal separately for independent presentation to the left and right ears. The synthesizer uses a 3-space head tracking device to maintain a stable acoustic image when the listener moves his head. The design is complete to present localized stimuli in azimuth. A concept is described for generating stimuli in the three dimensional case for azimuth, elevation and distance. Details of the hardware and software design are in the appendices. Laboratory methodology are described for deriving the necessary parameters of the synthesizer. Experimental data collected separately from this thesis demonstrate that the concept and design are viable for the azimuth case. Localization errors with the synthesizer are compared with free field errors obtained with 10 subjects. The results show that localization accuracy is essentially equal for the two conditions. Recommendations are presented for further research and development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA203053
Entities
People
- Richard L. McKinley
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology