Transfer effects on sound localization performances from playing a virtual three-dimensional auditory game

• Published in: Applied acoustics Vol. 68; no. 8; pp. 885 - 896
• Main Authors: Honda, Akio, Shibata, Hiroshi, Gyoba, Jiro, Saitou, Kouji, Iwaya, Yukio, Suzuki, Yôiti
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acoustical measurements and instrumentation; Acoustics; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Head-related transfer functions; Perceptual-motor learning; Physics; Transfer effect; Virtual auditory display; Perceptual-motor learning; Transfer effect; Virtual auditory display; Head-related transfer functions; Performance evaluation; Digital display; Acoustics; Sound; Sound source; Learning; Perception; Transfer function; Localization; Comparative study; Engine; Auditory imagery
• ISSN: 0003-682X; 1872-910X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apacoust.2006.08.007

Transfer effects of playing an auditory game with a virtual auditory display (VAD) were investigated. Furthermore, we analyzed the effects of playing the VAD game on sound localization performance under subjects’ own head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) and HRTFs fitted from those of 16 other adults. Participants performed sound localization tasks initially and 2 weeks later to show the effects. The VAD game players were of three groups, using own HRTFs, fitted HRTFs, and no playing (control). The VAD game-playing results revealed that: (1) the hit rate of the sound localization task for real sound sources increased approximately 20%; (2) the vertical and horizontal localization error decreased significantly; (3) sound localization performance using fitted HRTFs was similar to performance using own HRTFs. Follow-up tests revealed that transfer effects persisted more than 1 month, suggesting that the effects of playing the VAD game transfer to sound localization performance.