Solving the naming ambiguity of auditory localization mechanisms: HRTF & HRSL, and ILD, ITD, IPD
Alessandro Carlini · Qeios · 2023
This work aims to establish unambiguous names for auditory localization mechanisms. Auditory localization relies on neural mechanisms processing information based on physical sound features. One key mechanism in three-dimensional auditory localization is the Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF). However, this name (HRTF) is currently used for two distinct mechanisms, leading to ambiguity. The first mechanism involves a perceptual process used by our auditory system to locate sound sources in 3D space. The second mechanism is a technological sound processing, which attributes characteristics of distant sound sources to near artificial sources (e.g., headphones). To solve this problem, we propose to keep the name “Head Related Transfer Function” for the technological mechanism that describes the artificial manipulation of sound. For the perceptual mechanism, however, the new proposed name is “Head Reflected Sound Localization” (HRSL), which maintains structural consistency with the previous name, and clearly describes the nature of the perceptual mechanism.