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Auditory distance perception in rooms

Nature volume 397, pages 517–520 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The perceived distance of a sound source in a room has been shown to depend on the ratio of the energies of direct and reflected sound1. Although this relationship was verified in later studies2,3,4, the research has never led to a quantitative model. The advent of techniques for the generation of virtual sound sources5,6 has made it possible to study distance perception using controlled, deterministic stimuli. Here we present two experiments that make use of such stimuli and we show that a simple model, based on a modified direct-to-reverberant energy ratio, can accurately predict the results and also provide an explanation for the ‘auditory horizon’ in distance perception. The modification of the ratio consists of the use of an integration time of 6 milliseconds in the calculation of the energy of the direct sound. This time constant seems to be important in spatial hearing—the precedence effect is also based on a similar integration window7.

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Figure 1: Effects of overall level and source distance on perceived distance (data from the first experiment).
Figure 2: Perceived distance as a function of the number of reflections and their level for a virtual source at 2 m distance in the reverbera.
Figure 3: Subjective distances of sound sources reported here and in three previous studies3,4,14, and predictions calculated using equation (2).

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Acknowledgements

Part of this research was done within the European AUDIS project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TNO Human Factors Research Institute, PO Box 23, 3769, ZG Soesterberg, The Netherlands

    Adelbert W. Bronkhorst & Tammo Houtgast

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  1. Adelbert W. Bronkhorst
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  2. Tammo Houtgast
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Correspondence to Adelbert W. Bronkhorst.

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Bronkhorst, A., Houtgast, T. Auditory distance perception in rooms. Nature 397, 517–520 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17374

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