Evaluating binaural reproduction systems from behavioral patterns in a virtual reality—A case study with impaired binaural cues and tracking latency

Abstract

This paper proposes a method for evaluating real-time binaural reproduction systems by means of a wayfinding task in six degrees of freedom. Participants physically walk to sound objects in a virtual reality created by a head-mounted display and binaural audio. The method allows for comparative evaluation of different rendering and tracking systems. We show how the localization accuracy of spatial audio rendering is reflected by objective measures of the participants’ behavior and task performance. As independent variables we add tracking latency or reduce the binaural cues. We provide a reference scenario with loudspeaker reproduction and an anchor scenario with monaural reproduction for comparison.