Humans localize sound accurately using only two real-time ear signals
Evidence
The ability of humans to localize sound sources is surprisingly good, especially when you consider that it is based on real-time analysis of two signals entering the ear canals. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1423
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: Connects to binaural hearing and CI/binaural prosthetics research — two ears yielding 3D spatial perception is a neat information-theory puzzle.
Related
- Human sound localization is remarkably accurate given it processes only two ear signals. (similarity 0.93)
- Robust spatial hearing despite reverberation has driven decades of binaural modeling research. (similarity 0.85)
- Interaural timing alone cannot explain our sound localization ability (similarity 0.85)
- Single-ear listeners can still localize sound sources but with degraded accuracy (similarity 0.84)
- Two ears improve detection, localization, and masking resistance over one. (similarity 0.84)
- Sound source location is encoded in waveform distortions between the ears (similarity 0.84)
- The ear achieves spatial hearing through signal analysis rather than directional receptors (similarity 0.83)
- Sound localization fuses independent sensory evidence into one coherent percept (similarity 0.83)
- Binaural hearing enables sound-source direction perception that one ear cannot produce (similarity 0.83)
- Horizontal localization uses binaural cues while vertical localization does not (similarity 0.83)
- Humans localize single sources well but fail at source distributions (similarity 0.82)
- Sound localization evolved in nocturnal mammals and remains vital for prey and predator. (similarity 0.82)
- Binaural sound localization depends on ear-level temporal and intensity encoding efficiency (similarity 0.82)
- The ear’s 1-2 ms time resolution makes monaural temporal cues unusable for localization. (similarity 0.82)
- Auditory spatial information alone allows orientation in one’s surroundings. (similarity 0.82)