This thesis explores different aspects of augmented reality audio (ARA). In ARA applications, the natural sound environment is enriched with the addition of virtual sounds, and their mixture is presented to the listener using headphones. A typical configuration has microphones placed outside of the headphones, and these natural environmental signals are combined with virtual source renderings. This work focuses on the concept of using an insert-type of headset with integrated microphones as a platform for ARA applications and environments. Subjective and objective measurements were performed to yield optimum equalization for the headset design. Based on the measurement results, an ARA system composed of a headset and mixer unit is proposed. The sound quality and usability of the system is further evaluated in laboratory and real-life situations. Furthermore, a novel method for acoustic positioning and head tracking is introduced. By placing a set of anchor sound sources in the environment, an ARA headset can be used to determine sound propagation times from the anchor sources to the headset microphones. When the sound source locations are known a priori, this information can be further processed to estimate the user position and orientation. In addition to the positioning method, different sound signaling systems for anchor sound sources are also studied.
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