Realistic 3D Sound Simulation in the VIRTTEX Driving Simulator (original) (raw)

Virtual Reality for Subjective Assessment of Sound Quality in Cars

Journal of The Audio Engineering Society, 2018

Binaural recording and playback has been used for decades in automotive industry for performing subjective assessment of sound quality in cars, avoiding expensive and difficult tests on the road. Despite the success of this technology, several drawbacks are inherent in this approach. The playback on headphones does not benefit of head-tracking, so the localization is poor. The HRTFs embedded in the binaural rendering are those of the dummy head employed for recording the sound inside the car, and finally there is no visual feedback, so the listener gets a mismatch between visual and aural stimulations. The new Virtual Reality approach solves all these problems. The research focuses on obtaining a 360° panoramic video of the interior of vehicle, accompanied by audio processed in High Order Ambisonics format, ready for being rendered on a stereoscopic VR visor. It is also possible to superimpose onto the video a real-time colormap of noise levels, with iso-level curves and calibrated ...

Physically informed car engine sound synthesis for virtual and augmented environments

The richness of crossmodal feedback in car driving makes it an en- gaging, complex, yet “natural” activity. Audition plays an impor- tant role, as the engine sound, perceived in the cabin, conveys rel- evant cues about the vehicle motion. In this paper, we introduce a procedural and physically informed model for synthetic combustion engine sound, as an effective, flexible and computationally efficient alternative to sample-based and analysis/resynthesis approaches. The sound model, currently being developed as Max/MSP exter- nal, has been integrated in GeneCars, a driving simulator environ- ment for industrial sound design, and SkAT Studio, a demonstration framework for the rapid creation of audio processing workflows.

Genuit-NoiseCon2005_A New Approach for Developing Vehicle Target Sound

Evaluating sound quality leads to difficulties. Conventional tests neglect the context-sensitivity of human perception evaluation; they only reflect artificial realities which do not correspond with perceptual authenticity. Since the subjective evaluation is influenced by different modifiers, it is necessary to extend methods in order to be able to survey and represent various objective variables as well as subjective variables sufficiently. It is known that experiments in laboratories only constitute artificial realities and disregard important parameters like context, relevance or external validity. The test design lacks the consideration of the usual interaction between the self-stimulated sound and the driver as well as the context, in which the driver experiences and evaluates the perceived sound. A 3D Sound Simulation System (H3S) has been developed for the realistic reproduction of airborne sound in driving simulators. Mobile H3S is capable of simulating a vehicle soundscape -consisting of engine sound, tire and wind noise -according to a real driving situation. A vehicle equipped with this interactive technique can be driven regularly on the road while the acoustic impression for the driver originates from a different or modified vehicle. The soundscape adapts online to changes in speed, engine rpm and load caused by the vehicle controls.

Interior Car Sound Simulation using Binaural Processing for Wave Field Synthesis Reproduction

2006

This paper proposes a spatial sound reproduction approach for subjective assessment of interior car sound. The sound reproduction is based on wave field synthesis technology (WFS). This technology enables holophonic audio reproduction and an enhanced immersion of the listener into a spatially extended sound field without using headphones. In past publications [15], [16], the basic principles of interior car sound simulations using WFS have been outlined. This paper gives technical details on implementations and proposes spatial processing approaches for a WFS reproduction compatible to existing binaural simulation environments for NVH engineering.

Prediction of sound and vibration in a virtual automobile

Sound and Vibration, 2001

Ability to both feel and hear the results of engineering decisions via a “virtual car” – simultaneous engineering – can significantly shorten vehicle development time. Sound quality and discrete vibration at the driver’s position may be predicted and ‘driven’ before the first prototype is built. Although sound quality cannot yet be predicted in an unknown chassis, the sound and vibration behavior resulting from a new engine, never previously installed in a given vehicle, may be predicted, heard binaurally and felt in an interactive ‘drivable’ simulation based on transfer path analysis. Such a simulation, which includes the binaural sound information and discrete vibration of steering wheel and seat, can also include wind and tire noise to determine if certain engine contributions in sound quality and vibration may be masked. The method involves use of two technologies in conjunction: binaural transfer path analysis (with vibration transfer path analysis) and a real-time interactive ...

A Faust Based Driving Simulator Sound Synthesis Engine

A driver's awareness while on the road is a critical factor in his or her ability to make decisions to avoid hazards, plan routes and maintain safe travel. Situational awareness is gleaned not only from visual observation of the environment , but also the audible cues the environment provides-police sirens, honking cars, and crosswalk beeps, for instance , alert the driver to events around them. In our ongoing project on " investigating the influence of audible cues on driver situational awareness " , we implemented a custom audio engine that synthesizes in real time the soundscape of our driving simulator and renders it in 3D. This paper describes the implementation of this system , evaluates it and suggests future improvements. We believe that it provides a good example of use of a technology developed by the computer music community outside of this field and that it demonstrates the potential of the use of driving simulators as a music performance venue.

Interior Acoustic Simulation for In-Car Audio Design

2013

Today’s automotive audio components have to meet high quality expectations with ever-decreasing development costs. Predictive methods for the performance of sound systems in view of the optimal locations of loudspeakers in a car can help to overcome this challenge. This article describes a number of sound-field simulation tools to model the acoustic and vibro-acoustic aspects that come into play when transducers are mounted into small areas such as passenger compartment and door cavities. Examples are shown how FEM software can predict the acoustic modes of passenger compartments and door cavities. Automatic volume meshers are key to the success of the Acoustic FEM solutions. Vibro-acoustic effects, such as speaker membrane vibrations coupled with door cavity acoustic pressures and vibrations on the door trim can be taken into account using coupled structural and acoustic FEM and BEM formulations. Also fast-multipole BEM is used to boost the realistic frequency range up to 5000 Hz a...

Using 3d sound to improve the effectiveness of the advanced driver assistance systems

Personal and ubiquitous computing, 2002

Abstract: Future generation cars will be characterized by a wide range of Information Technology (IT) services providing safety and infotainment. This makes the car an information intensive environment where the visual channel is overloaded, putting the safety of drivers and passengers in jeopardy. We propose the use of a 3D auditory display to provide information from the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. This reduces the eye-off-road time, exploiting the human capability to associate sounds with positions in space. ...

Industry-oriented software-based system for quality evaluation of vehicle audio environments

IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2000

A new set of integrated software tools are proposed for the evaluation of vehicle audio quality for industrial purposes, taking advantage of the auralization approach that allows to simulate the binaural listening experience outside the cockpit. Two main cooperating tools are implemented. The first fulfills the function of acquiring relevant data for system modeling and for canceling the undesired effects of the acquisition chain. The second offers a user-friendly interface for real-time simulation of different car audio systems and the consequent evaluation of both objective and subjective performances. In the latter case, the listening procedure is directly experienced at the PC workplace, leading to a significant simplification of the audio-quality assessing task for comparing the selected systems. Moreover, such kind of subjective evaluation allowed to validate the proposed approach through a complete set of experiments (developed by means of a dedicated software environment) based on appropriate ITU recommendations.