Vikk64: A planar microphone array for audio-visual reproduction in virtual reality

Stärz F, Blau M. Vikk64: A planar microphone array for audio-visual reproduction in virtual reality. In: AVARIG 2026: Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games. Audio Engineering Society; 2026. Paper 10341. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23303

@inproceedings{Starz2026_23303,
  author = {Stärz, Felix and Blau, Matthias},
  title = {{Vikk64: A planar microphone array for audio-visual reproduction in virtual reality}},
  booktitle = {AVARIG 2026: Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games},
  note = {Paper 10341},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23303}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Vikk64: A planar microphone array for audio-visual reproduction in virtual reality
AU  - Stärz, Felix
AU  - Blau, Matthias
T2  - AVARIG 2026: Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games
M1  - Paper 10341
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/30
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23303
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - A virtual artificial head (VAH) can be used to imprint a listeners head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) onto a recording using a filter-and-sum beamforming approach. The previous version of the so-called Vikk, consisting of 24 microphones, was able to recreate HRTFs with low interaural errors, including temporal and spectral distortions up to 5 kHz. A simulation of a revised topology demonstrated an increased frequency range up to 8 kHz, motivating us to examine whether the range could be extended further, ideally beyond the audible range. We simulated two microphone topologies with different arrangement strategies based on either a Golomb ruler or Vogels spiral. In addition, scaling and weighting were applied to create a denser microphone placement in the centre of the array. Vogels spiral achieved results comparable to the Golomb ruler with 24 microphones and is easier to rescale with a larger number of microphones and parametric weighting. For this reason, we selected a weighted Vogels spiral to investigate how the number of microphones affects temporal and spectral distortions. Increasing the number of microphones to 32 reduced temporal and spectral distortions, although spectral distortions on the contralateral ear remained above 10 kHz. Further increasing the number to 64 microphones reduced spectral distortions and extended the usable frequency range up to 16 kHz. These results demonstrate the suitability of the Vikk64 for high-quality reproduction of binaural auralisations in the horizontal plane. Additionally, we outline how combining the Vikk64 with a VR180 camera enables the recording of audiovisual scenes that can be reproduced in virtual reality.
ER  -