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The Technology of Binaural Listening pp 171–199Cite as

Extracting Sound-Source-Distance Information from Binaural Signals

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Part of the book series: Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing ((MASP))

Abstract

The problem of distance estimation by computational methods utilizing binaural information is discussed. Initially, a brief overview is given concerning findings related to the auditory distance perception. Then, several acoustical parameters that depend on the distance between the source and the receiver especially within reverberant rooms are presented. An overview of several existing distance estimation techniques using binaural signals is given and a recent distance estimation method is presented in more detail. This method relies on several statistical features extracted from binaural signals and incorporates all the above features into a classification framework based on Gaussian Mixture models.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term room transfer function, refers to the frequency-domain representation of the room impulse response.

  2. 2.

    The term binaural room transfer function refers to the frequency-domain representation of the binaural room impulse response.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the authors of [47] and S. Vesa for offering the database employed also in [19]. Further, thanks are due to two anonymous reviewers for most valuable comments. This research has been co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund, ESF, and the Greek national funds through its Operational Program Education and Lifelong Learning of the National Strategic Reference Framework, NSRF. Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II: Investing-in-Knowledge Society through the European Social Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Audio and Acoustic Technology Group, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    E. Georganti & J. Mourjopoulos

  2. Centre for Applied Hearing Research, Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    T. May

  3. Institute of Physics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

    S. van de Par

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  1. E. Georganti
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  2. T. May
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  3. S. van de Par
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  4. J. Mourjopoulos
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Correspondence to E. Georganti .

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  1. Fak. Elektrotechnik, LS Allgm.Elektrotechn.+Akustik, Univ. Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Jens Blauert

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Georganti, E., May, T., van de Par, S., Mourjopoulos, J. (2013). Extracting Sound-Source-Distance Information from Binaural Signals. In: Blauert, J. (eds) The Technology of Binaural Listening. Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37762-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37762-4_7

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