An Empirical Study of Hear-Through Augmented Reality: Using Bone Conduction to Deliver Spatialized Audio

Augmented reality (AR) is the mixing of computer-generated stimuli with real-world stimuli. In this paper, we present results from a controlled, empirical study comparing three ways of delivering spatialized audio for AR applications: a speaker array, headphones, and a bone-conduction headset. Analo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lindeman, R.W., Noma, H., Goncalves de Barros, P.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
and virtual realities
Artificial
audio
augmented
Augmented reality
bone conduction
Bones
Character generation
Ear
Frequency
H.5.1 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems-Audio input/output
Headphones
Irrigation
Loudspeakers
Microphones
Virtual reality
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Augmented reality (AR) is the mixing of computer-generated stimuli with real-world stimuli. In this paper, we present results from a controlled, empirical study comparing three ways of delivering spatialized audio for AR applications: a speaker array, headphones, and a bone-conduction headset. Analogous to optical-see-through AR in the visual domain, hear-through AR allows users to receive computer-generated audio using the bone-conduction headset, and real-world audio using their unoccluded ears. Our results show that subjects achieved the best accuracy using a speaker array physically located around the listener when stationary sounds were played, but that there was no difference in accuracy between the speaker array and the bone-conduction device for sounds that were moving, and that both devices outperformed standard headphones for moving sounds. Subjective comments by subjects following the experiment support this performance data.
ISSN:1087-8270
2375-5326
DOI:10.1109/VR.2008.4480747