Customization of Head-Related Impulse Responses in the median plane for synthesizing moving sound

Abstract

The authors already have proposed a novel method of HRIR customization at each static source position in the median plane for synthesizing stationary sound. The customized HRIR can be obtained by subjective tuning of three parameters at each target position. This study extends the previous study for synthesizing moving sound from the customized HRIRs. The median plane in the upper hemisphere is divided into two sectors, and the three parameters are tuned at each of three positions, which are the endpoints and boundary of sectors. Thus, the entire upper hemisphere median-plane HRIRs can be customized by subjective tuning of nine parameters only. Subjective listening tests are carried out to assess the performance for synthesizing moving sound with the customized HRIRs. The test results reveal that it is possible to make desired moving sound perception for a subject without measurement of one’s HRIRs by the proposed customization methods based on simple tuning of a few parameters.