Recent Advances in an Open Software for Numerical HRTF Calculation

Abstract

Mesh2HRTF 1.x is an open-source and fully scriptable end-to-end pipeline for the numerical calculation of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). The calculations are based on 3D meshes of listener’s body parts such as the head, pinna, and torso. The numerical core of Mesh2HRTF is written in C++ and employs the boundary-element method for solving the Helmholtz equation. It is accelerated by a multilevel fast multipole method and can easily be parallelized to further speed up the computations. The recently refactored framework of Mesh2HRTF 1.x contains tools for preparing the meshes as well as specific post-processing and inspection of the calculated HRTFs. The resulting HRTFs are saved in the spatially oriented format for acoustics being directly applicable in virtual and augmented reality applications and psychoacoustic research. The Mesh2HRTF 1.x code is automatically tested to assure high quality and reliability. A comprehensive online documentation enables easy access for users without in-depth knowledge of acoustic simulations.