First steps towards a metadata scheme for auditory cognition experiments in virtual reality

Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum, pp. 4889–4892

Abstract

Virtual reality and mixed reality (VR/MR) systems have the advantage to conduct audiovisual psychological experiments in a reproducible environment with great experimental control.In the field of auditory cognition, where acoustics and cognitive psychology are in constant interplay, the lack of design guidelines limit the use of VR/MR for conducting experiments.Another challenge lies in the VR/MR specific terminology that might be unknown to researchers from other fields.This study highlights design needs, system requirements, and challenges from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, including acoustics, cognitive psychology, and VR/MR.We analysed metadata from the experimental design, the development, and evaluation process from selected auditory cognition experiments conducted in VR by collecting psychology-related, video-related, and audiorelated parameters.All parameters were found to be important features of the production, transmission, and reproduction part of an experiment.At the same time, it was possible to define a baseline for the system requirements from a technical viewpoint regarding hardware and software.This work presents the first steps towards a design guideline for specific auditory cognition experiments in VR.

Authors 3

1. Jamilla Balint 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, Germany

2. Alexander Raake

   Technische Universität Ilmenau

   Affiliation as printed

   Audiovisual Technology Group, Technische Universität Ilmenau

3. Janina Fels Aachen Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

   Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany