Classification head-related transfer functions for an individualization procedure by a tournament-style listening-test
Yukio Iwaya, Yôiti Suzuki · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2006
Individualization of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) is necessary for high-accuracy sound image localization in three-dimensional spatial rendering by virtual auditory displays (VADs). However, measurement of HRTFs for each listener for all sound-source directions requires a special measuring apparatus and a long measurement time with a listener’s physical load. The authors have therefore proposed an individualization method of HRTFs called Determination method of OptimuM Impulse-response by Sound Orientation (DOMISO), in which the best set of HRTFs is selected using a tournament-style listening test without any measurement. In DOMISO, our HRTF corpus, including more than 120 sets of measured HRTFs, is used. In this study, a classification method of these HRIRs is examined to select good seeds for the tournament. First, relationships among various parameters of HRTFs and individualization results by DOMISO are analyzed using multiple-correlation analysis. Second, using promising parameters, all sets of HRTFs in the corpus are classified as a structured tree. Third, using results of classification, listening tests by DOMISO procedure are performed using these HTRFs. Finally, a listening test of sound image localization is conducted with the individualized HRTFs to examine the effectiveness of the classification.