On the design of canonical sound localization environments

This paper addresses the design of virtual auditory spaces that optimize the localization of sound sources under engineering constraints. Such a design incorporates some critical cues commonly provided by rooms and by head motion. Different designs are evaluated by psychoacoustics tests with several subjects. Localization accuracy is measured by the azimuth and elevation errors and the front/back confusion rate. We present a methodology and results for some simple canonical environments that optimize the localization of sounds.