Quantifying the Impact of Head-Tracked Spatial Audio on Common User Auditory Experiences using Facial Micromovements

Alonso Cardona Cano C, Calle JS, López Díez J. Quantifying the Impact of Head-Tracked Spatial Audio on Common User Auditory Experiences using Facial Micromovements. In: Express Paper. Audio Engineering Society; 2024. Paper 269. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22727

@inproceedings{AlonsoCardonaCano2024_22727,
  author = {Alonso Cardona Cano, César and Calle, Juan Simon and López Díez, Jaime},
  title = {{Quantifying the Impact of Head-Tracked Spatial Audio on Common User Auditory Experiences using Facial Micromovements}},
  note = {Paper 269},
  year = {2024},
  month = sep,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22727}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Quantifying the Impact of Head-Tracked Spatial Audio on Common User Auditory Experiences using Facial Micromovements
AU  - Alonso Cardona Cano, César
AU  - Calle, Juan Simon
AU  - López Díez, Jaime
M1  - Paper 269
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/09/27
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22727
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - The study aims to enhance the understanding of how Head-Tracked Spatial Audio technology influences both emotional responses and immersion levels among listeners. By employing micro facial gesture recognition technology, it quantifies the depth of immersion and the intensity of emotional responses elicited by various types of binaural content, measuring categories such as Neutral, Happy, Sad, Angry, Surprised, Scared, Disgusted, Contempt, Valence, and Arousal. Subjects were presented with a randomized set of audio stimuli consisting of stereo music, stereo speech. After consolidating the records of 78 participants, the final database consisted of 212,862 unique data points. It was determined that the average level of "Arousal" is significantly higher when Head Tracked Spatial Audio is activated compared to when it is deactivated, suggesting that HT technology increases the emotional arousal of audio listeners. In music, the increase in sadness suggests that HT deepens emotional immersion, even with traditionally negative emotions. Vocal stimuli showed increased happiness and reduced anger, indicating that HT optimizes emotional perception in communicative contexts. These findings suggest that HT not only intensifies emotional experiences but also modulates them based on the type of auditory content.
ER  -