Learning Effect of Fore-Aft Perception of Familiar and Unfamiliar Sounds

Abstract

Surround sound provides realistic experiences, but it has a problem that it is hard to perceive the fore-aft direction. In addition, its reality and spatial recognition deeply depend on whether the listener is accustomed to the surround environment, and whether the listener has ever heard the sound. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a set of experiments of fore-aft perception in order to investigate the human perception of front and back. We examined the effect of visual information and the difference between familiar and unfamiliar sounds. Experimental results showed that the listener got accustomed to the surround environment and the number of misperception decreased gradually.