Representations of HRTFs using MATLAB: 2D and 3D plots of accurate dummy-head measurements

Human Head-Related Transfer Functions describe the transmission from the free-field to the eardrums. HRTFs are measured on human subjects or on dummy-heads, characterized by the angle of incidence. The dummy-head measurement method allows the acquisition of data in high spatial resolution. Our setup provided HRTF data in 1 degree horizontal and 5 degrees elevational steps in different environmental settings. Spectral evaluation in spatial hearing research requires proper representation methods of detailed measurement data. Different 2D and 3D representation methods will be presented here, using different coordinate systems, color maps and additional filtering methods programmed under MATLAB. Figures are mainly helpful for HRTF analysis but MATLAB features allow other use for applications where directional characteristics, polar plots are required.