Room acoustics can be simulated by statistically tracing sound rays until their energy decays

Evidence

Another commonly used numerical computational technique is the ray-tracing method. A large number of ‘sound rays’, analogous to light rays, are sent from the source in different directions. Each ray is traced through reflections from surfaces until the energy of the ray is below a certain threshold. The receiver can be modelled as a volume, such as a sphere or a cube, and each traced ray that hits it adds to the response record. The ray-tracing technique is statistical, but if the number of rays is sufficiently large and the receiver is small enough, the result may yield a good approximation of the room response. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 302

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains how ray-tracing simulation works conceptually for a reader new to acoustic modeling.