Comparison of sound localization performance between virtual and real three-dimensional immersive sound field

A virtual auditory display (VAD) that enables a listener to move freely in a small room three-dimensionally was constructed and its performance was evaluated by comparing distance errors of a sound source between a real three-dimensional sound field and a virtual one synthesized by the VAD. The VAD system was installed in a soundproof room and a Localization auditory display with opened ear-canal for mixed reality (LADOMi) was employed as the sound presentation device. The result show that the accuracy of sound localization in three-dimensional space is approximately the same between the real and the virtual environments. It is also seen that the sound source direction is blurred with the reverberation, resulting in larger distance error in the horizontal component and the vertical component.