The effect of self-motion and room familiarity on sound source localization in virtual environments

This paper investigates the influence of lateral horizontal self-motion of participants during signal presentation on distance and azimuth perception for frontal sound sources in a rectangular room. Additionally, the effect of deviating room acoustics for a single sound presentation embedded in a sequence of presentations using a baseline room acoustics for familiarization is analyzed. For this purpose, two experiments were conducted using audiovisual virtual reality technology with dynamic head-tracking and real-time auralization over headphones combined with visual rendering of the room using a head-mounted display. Results show an improved distance perception accuracy when participants moved laterally during signal presentation instead of staying at a fixed position, with only head movements allowed. Adaptation to the room acoustics also improves distance perception accuracy. Azimuth perception seems to be independent of lateral movements during signal presentation and could even be negatively influenced by the familiarity of the used room acoustics.