Virtual Audio - Three-Dimensional Audio in Virtual Environments

Abstract

Three-dimensional interactive audio has a variety ofpotential uses in human-machine interfaces. After lagging seriously behind the visual components, the importance of sound is now becoming increas-ingly accepted. This paper mainly discusses background and techniques to implement three-dimensional audio in computer interfaces. A case study of a system for three-dimensional audio, implemented by the author, is described in great detail. The audio system was moreover integrated with a virtual reality system and conclusions on user tests and use of the audio system is presented along with proposals for future work at the end of the paper. The thesis begins with a definition of three-dimensional audio and a survey on the human auditory system to give the reader the needed knowledge of what three-dimensional audio is and how human auditory perception works