Auralization of Dynamic Urban Environments including Diffraction and Reflection using 'Virtual Acoustics'

Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum, pp. 5637–5641

Abstract

The auralization of urban environments poses additional complexities compared to indoor environments.For example, diffraction at the edges of the geometry has a greater influence on the auralization.Furthermore, most urban environments are highly dynamic, e.g. containing fast moving vehicles.Thus, a complex signal processing chain is required in order to consider additional sound propagation phenomena, such as Doppler shifts.The "Virtual Acoustics" framework uses the concept of geometrical acoustics to auralize such dynamic urban environments.Based on geometric sound paths, sound propagation parameters are derived controlling the digital signal processing elements, e.g. the spherical spreading loss is used as a signal gain.In order to determine higher order diffraction and reflection paths the so called image edge model can be used in a convenient way.Additionally, "Virtual Acoustics" modular interfaces allows the auralization to be based on other simulation models.This allows the framework to be adapted to different auralization scenarios and research questions.How this can be achieved will be presented and discussed in this work.

Authors 3

1. Pascal Palenda Aachen Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   IHTA, RWTH Aachen University

   Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 5, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Philipp Schäfer Aachen Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   IHTA, RWTH Aachen University

   Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 5, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. Michael Vorländer Aachen Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen

   Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 5, 52074 Aachen, Germany