SPATIAL SOUND SYSTEM TO AID INTERACTIVITY IN A HUMAN CENTRED DESIGN EVALUATION OF AN AIRCRAFT CABIN ENVIRONMENT

There is a lot of research towards the concept of 3D sound in virtual reality environments. With the incipient growth in the significance of designing more realistic and immersive experiences for a Human Centred Design (HCD) approach, sound perception is believed to add an interactive element in maximizing the human perspective. In this context, the concept of an audio-visual interaction model between a passenger and a crew member in an immersive aircraft cabin environment is studied and presented in this paper. The study focuses on the design and usability of spatial sources as an interactive component in a regional aircraft cabin design for Human in the Loop evaluation. Sound sources are placed among the virtual manikins acting as passengers with the aim of building a realistic virtual environment for the user enacting the role of a crew member. The crew member, while walking throughthe cabin can orient and identify the position of the sound source inside the immersive Cabin environment. We review the 3D sound approaches and cues for sound spatialization in a virtual environment and propose that audio-visual interactivity aids the immersive Human centred design analysis

Spatial Sound Rendering – A Survey

Simulating propagation of sound and audio rendering can improve the sense of realism and the immersion both in complex acoustic environments and dynamic virtual scenes. In studies of sound auralization, the focus has always been on room acoustics modeling, but most of the same methods are also applicable in the construction of virtual environments such as those developed to facilitate computer gaming, cognitive research, and simulated training scenarios. This paper is a review of state-of-the-art techniques that are based on acoustic principles that apply not only to real rooms but also in 3D virtual environments. The paper also highlights the need to expand the field of immersive sound in a web based browsing environment, because, despite the interest and many benefits, few developments seem to have taken place within this context. Moreover, the paper includes a list of the most effective algorithms used for modelling spatial sound propagation and reports their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, the paper emphasizes in the evaluation of these proposed works

Using binaural audio for inducing intersensory illusions to create illusory tactile feedback in virtual reality

Virtual reality has the potential to simulate a variety of real-world scenarios for training- and entertainment-purposes, as it has the ability to induce a sense of “presence”: the illusion that the user is physically transported to another location and is really “there”. VR and VR-technologies have seen a recent market resurgence due to the arrival of affordable, mass-market VR-display systems, such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Samsung GearVR, and Google Cardboard. However, the use of tactile feedback to convey information about the virtual environment is often lacking in VR applications. This study addresses this lack by proposing the use of binaural audio in VR to induce illusory tactile feedback. This is done by examining the literature on intersensory illusions as well as the relationship between audio and tactile feedback to inform the design of a software prototype that is able to induce the desired feedback. This prototype is used to test the viability of such an approach to induce illusory tactile feedback and to investigate the nature of this feedback. The software prototype is used to collect data from users regarding their experiences of this type of feedback and its underlying causes. Data collection is done through observation, questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups and the results indicate that the use of binaural audio in VR can be used to effectively induce an illusory sense of tactile feedback in the absence of real-world feedback. This study contributes insights regarding the nature of illusory sensations in VR, focusing on touch-sensations. This study also provides consolidated definitions of immersion and presence as well as a consolidated list of aspects of immersion, both of which are used to detail the relationship between immersion, presence, and illusory tactile feedback. Findings provide insight into the relationship between the design of audio in VR and its ability to alter perception in the tactile modality. Findings also provide insight into aspects of VR, such as presence and believability, and their relationship to perception across various sensory modalities.Dissertation (MIS)--University of Pretoria 2018.Information ScienceMISUnrestricte