Modifications of the surrounding auditory space by augmented reality audio: Introduction towarped acoustic reality

Presented at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2015), July 6-10, 2015, Graz, Styria, Austria.Augmented Reality Audio (ARA) is mostly employed in terms of adding virtual sound source into an existing auditory scene. Common goal of such system is to preserve the highest level of fidelity and natural character of both real and virtual components. This paper introduces another approach to the ARA systems based on intentional modification of the native parameters of both the real and the virtual auditory segments. The system employs binaural microphone-equipped earphones used as microphone-hearthrough device, which are able to capture and immediately reproduce the auditory scene. A processing unit is included in the microphone-earphone signal path. The unit enables to apply various audio effects to both the captured and the virtual sound allowing warped perception of the auditory reality. The real-time processing algorithms were implemented in Pure Data environment. The proposed system provides immersive audio performance and has potential to be used in specific virtual reality applications, such as simulation of reality perception by people with mental disorders