Frantisek Rund

Alternatives to HRTF measurement

This paper compares methods to acquire the HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) applicable to navigation purposes, especially for the visually impaired. The most frequently used method for the HRTF acquisition (in general case) is the direct measurement of the HRTF. However, this method is very time-demanding. The alternative method have to be found, more suitable for navigation purposes. Possible methods (less time-demanding) are: the HRTF synthesis and the HRTF personalization. The scope of the paper is to compare the methods. In the paper the HRTFs of the one subject for 15 directions were measured. For the same subject the HRTFs were synthesized and personalized, using said methods described in the paper. The resulting HRTFs were compared. The results were verified by means of a simple listening test.

Objective quality assessment for the acoustic zoom

Sound quality is a major issue of concern for all modern telecom and audiovisual systems. The evaluation of sound quality includes both objective and subjective methods. The subjective methods reflect the listeners perception of the sound and the objective methods try to evaluate the sound parameters affecting its quality in correlation with the results of the subjective methods. The subjective tests are time consuming, which is inconvenient during the development of new algorithms of audio signal processing and tuning its parameters. This article investigates the possibility of applying objective methods for audio quality assessment on an acoustic zooming system and it compares their results and the results of the subjective intelligibility test.