Head shadow enhancement with fixed beamformers improves sound localization based on interaural level differences

10/05/2017

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by   Benjamin Dieudonné, et al.

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A new method to enhance head shadow in low frequencies is presented, resulting in interaural level differences that can be used to unambiguously localize sounds. Enhancement is achieved with a fixed beamformer with ipsilateral directionality in each ear. The microphone array consists of one microphone per device. The method naturally handles multiple sources without sound location estimations. In a localization experiment with simulated bimodal listeners, performance improved from 51 to 28 root-mean-square error compared with standard omni-directional microphones. The method is also promising for bilateral cochlear implant or hearing aid users and for improved speech perception in multi-talker environments.