Sonel Mapping: A Probabilistic Acoustical Modeling Method

Sonel mapping is a Monte-Carlo-based acoustical modeling technique that approximates the acoustics of an environment while accounting for diffuse and specular reflections as well as diffraction effects. Through the use of a probabilistic Russian roulette strategy to determine the type of interaction between a sound and any objects/surfaces it may encounter, sonel mapping avoids excessively large running times in contrast to deterministic techniques. Sonel mapping approximates many of the subtle interaction effects required for realistic acoustical modeling yet due to its probabilistic nature, it can be incorporated into interactive virtual environments where accuracy is often substituted for efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.