Exploration of Virtual Acoustic Room Simulations by the Visually Impaired

Virtual acoustic simulations of two interior architectural environments were presented to visually impaired individuals. Interpretations of the presented acoustic information, through block map reconstructions, were compared to reconstructions following in-situ exploration as well as playback of binaural and Ambisonic walkthrough recordings of the same spaces. Results show that dynamic exploration of virtual acoustic room simulations outperforms passive recording playback situations, despite dynamic rotation cues offered by Ambisonic playback. Simulations used off-line HOA RIR synthesis and a hybrid rendering combining pre-convolved signals and real-time convolutions for sounds related to user displacement and selfgenerated noise.