Objective differences between individual HRTF datasets of children and adults

摘要

Subjective evaluations of noise by children and its effect on their learning abilities are a current research topic. Studies in this field often make use of virtual acoustic scenarios to be able to present a controlled acoustic environment in which to conduct the experiments. The presentation of realistic acoustic scenes requires a set of Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) that in the best case is the subject's individual HRTF, or matches it as closely as possible. However in most cases only a generic HRTF from an artificial head is available. This leads to perceptive deviations in location, coloration and reduces the immersion in the presented scene. Previous studies have shown, that anthropometric parameters, and by inference HRTFs differ especially for younger children compared to adults. In this study, individual high-resolution HRTF datasets as well as head and torso geometries of 26 children (ages 5-9 years) have been measured using a fast HRTF measurement system and a structured light 3D Scanner. The HRTFs are compared to those from adults and an artificial head to objectively evaluate their similarities and differences. The results indicate, that even though anthropometric geometries increase significantly in size with age, both children and adults show similar differences compared to an artificial head.