Computational acoustics for virtual environments

在逼真的模拟（如沉浸式虚拟环境）中播放空间声音似乎是显而易见的。 事实上，这样做可能是有益的，原因有很多。 空间声音提示可以增加更好的“存在”或“沉浸”感，可以补偿差的视觉提示（图形），并导致改进的对象定位。 话虽如此，准确地重新创建声音与其在环境中传播时可能遇到的物体/表面之间的潜在大量交互，同时考虑人类收听者是非常困难的，并且超出了我们目前的分析和计算范围，也许除了简单的环境。 还缺乏详细评价有效性和准确性的既定方法（例如，模型对被建模的实际现象的忠实程度）。 许多评估涉及系统计算的各种属性/统计数据与相应的理论/预测值之间的比较。 然而，人类听众是任何空间声音应用的最终用户，因此，为了确定这种系统的有效性，任何评估方法都必须包括人类听众，以便考虑人类听觉感知。 该研究项目旨在开发方法和技术，通过调查：i）准确性与计算时间之间的权衡; ii）是否可以利用人类感知来限制计算资源，以及iii）基于人的效果与声学建模的潜在合并，以通过使用不同的算法和技术来促进有效的收听者声场。 高素质人才的培训是拟议的研究计划的一个重要组成部分，将包括学生的培训。 在我的监督下，学生将有机会使用最先进的设施进行独特的尖端研究，同时与声学专家互动并建立联系。

Incorporating spatial sound in realistic simulations such as immersive virtual environments seems obvious. In fact, doing so can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. Spatial sound cues can add a better sense of "presence" or "immersion", can compensate for poor visual cues (graphics), and lead to improved object localization. That being said, accurately recreating the potentially large number of interactions between a sound and the objects/surfaces it may encounter as the sound propagates through the environment while accounting for the human listener is extremely difficult and beyond our current analytical and computational reach, except perhaps for simple environments. There is also a lack of established methodology for the detailed evaluation of the effectiveness and accuracy (e.g., how faithful the model is to the actual phenomena being modeled) of spatial sound systems in general. Many evaluations involve making comparisons between various properties/statistics computed by the system and the corresponding theoretical/predicted values. However, the human listener is the ultimate user of any spatial sound application and therefore, to determine the effectiveness of such systems, any method of evaluation must also include human listeners in order to account for human auditory perception. This research program seeks to develop methods and techniques that will lead to more efficient, realistic simulations of dynamic, interactive, multi-modal virtual environments through the investigation of: i) the trade-off between accuracy vs. computational time; ii) whether human perception may be exploited to limit computational resources, and iii) the potential merger of human-based effects with acoustical modeling to facilitate efficient listener sound fields through the use of different algorithms and techniques. The training of highly qualified personnel is an essential component of the proposed research program and will include the training of students. While under my supervision, students will have the opportunity to work on unique, cutting edge research using state of the art facilities, while interacting and building ties with experts in acoustics.