Each person’s unique ear shape requires individualized acoustic rendering for 3-D audio

Evidence

Our differing pinnae shapes mean that the acoustic properties of scattered sound waves from them are different and therefore individual. These pinnae ridges and the shape of the head are unique features of individual listeners, and the brain learns the acoustic consequences early on in life. Since these acoustic variations to input sounds at our two ears are responsible for our perception of everyday sounds in three dimensions (both horizontally and vertically), it is important that these acoustic cues are accounted for and therefore exist in reproduced sound if the desired result is a 3-D listening experience. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 736

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains what the HRTF is and why pinnae individuality drives its personal nature.
• XREF: connects to: Individual HRTF measurements give the most accurate external ear emulation — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1608; Individual ear shapes give each listener a unique head-related transfer function — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 736; Sound localization from pinna cues is learned and specific to each person’s ear shape. (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Individual ear shapes give each listener a unique head-related transfer function #corroborates (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 736
• Individual pinnae shapes make spatial hearing uniquely personal and learned #corroborates (0.92)
• Sound localization from pinna cues is learned and specific to each person’s ear shape. #corroborates (0.90)
• Each person’s directional hearing cues are learned and specific to their own ears #corroborates (0.90)
• Pinna, head, and torso shapes encode spatial direction into ear-canal sounds #expands (0.85) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 286
• Personalized HRTFs improve sound externalization in binaural reproduction #expands (0.85) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 285
• HRTFs encode direction through head, ear, and torso shape filtering #expands (0.82)
• Body and torso acoustics measurably shape the sound reaching the ears #expands (0.75) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1714