This document was written as part of an independent study project under the requirements of CS297 Reading / Research in Computer Science with Prof. Michael O'Donnell as faculty advisor. The main focus is to explain and demonstrate the components of directional auditory perception, and to demonstrate the development of virtual auditory spaces.
Many of the sound files in this document are quite large. They are all WAVE files at 16 bits, 44.1 kHz. It is important for these files to be of high quality, hence their size. The outer ear produces important spectral information between 8 and 16 kHz. Since a 22.05 kHz file holds frequency information only up to 11.025 kHz, some of this information would be lost.
Data for the head related transfer functions was recorded from an electroacoustical mannequin by researchers at MIT. The data is available at http://sound.media.mit.edu/KEMAR.html. Instrument samples were recorded in an anechoic chamber by researchers at The University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios.