Evaluation and Prediction of Perceived Naturalness for Source Directivity With a Visible Virtual Source

Abehsera-Morell P, Poirier-Quinot D, Katz BFG. Evaluation and Prediction of Perceived Naturalness for Source Directivity With a Visible Virtual Source. J Audio Eng Soc. 2026;74(4):236-249. doi:10.17743/jaes.2022.0260

@article{AbehseraMorell2026_23137,
  author = {Abehsera-Morell, Pablo and Poirier-Quinot, David and Katz, Brian F. G.},
  title = {{Evaluation and Prediction of Perceived Naturalness for Source Directivity With a Visible Virtual Source}},
  journal = {Journal of the Audio Engineering Society},
  volume = {74},
  number = {4},
  pages = {236--249},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2022.0260},
  doi = {10.17743/jaes.2022.0260},
  year = {2026},
  month = apr,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Evaluation and Prediction of Perceived Naturalness for Source Directivity With a Visible Virtual Source
AU  - Abehsera-Morell, Pablo
AU  - Poirier-Quinot, David
AU  - Katz, Brian F. G.
T2  - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
J2  - J. Audio Eng. Soc.
VL  - 74
IS  - 4
SP  - 236
EP  - 249
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/01
DO  - 10.17743/jaes.2022.0260
UR  - https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2022.0260
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - In extended reality, dynamic rendering updates the auralization as changes occur in the scene. Directivity is a characteristic that may require dynamic rendering for moving sound sources. This study investigates how the reverberant component of a directional virtual loudspeaker, used as a controlled proxy for a human talker, is perceived as it rotates and whether its directivity contributes to the perceived naturalness of the scene’s acoustics. An experiment was conducted in a virtual environment in which recorded speech and vocal sounds were reproduced through a rotating virtual loudspeaker that was visually overlaid with a human avatar. Four directivity implementations were evaluated: (1) fully measured directivity, (2) direct-sound directivity only, (3) static reproduction without orientation-dependent directivity, and (4) an incongruent inverted-reverberation condition. Participants rated the perceived naturalness of each scene on a seven-point scale. Results indicated that the most physically realistic rendering was perceived as most natural, while partial or incorrect directivity implementations reduced realism. Analysis of the associated acoustic parameters showed that deviations in interaural level difference and direct-to-reverberant ratio were systematically related to changes in perceived naturalness.
ER  -