Date of Award

12-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Steven K. Rogers, PhD

Abstract

This thesis determines whether an artificial neural network (ANN) can approximate the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories (AAMRL) head related transfer functions (HRTF) data obtained from research at AAMRL during the fall of 1988. The first test determines whether HRTF lends any support in sound localization when compared to no HRTF (Interaural Time Delay only). There is a statistically significant interaction between the location of the sound and whether the HRTF or no HRTF is used. When this interaction is removed using the alternate F.Value, the statistics give the result of equal means for the filters and azimuth. This means that at certain angles of azimuth, the HRTF either provides no advantage at all or hinders localization capabilities. Adding in the corrections for reversals changes the results to where the means of the azimuth are not statistically equal. The reversal corrections will inherently reduce the error results. However, comparing the number of reversals indicates an advantage of using the HRTF over no HRTF. The second test determines whether HRTF and ANN lend the same amount of information in sound localization when compared to each other. With reversal corrections included, a statistical advantage is not indicated, and the means of the two filters are statistically equal. Also there is a statistically significant interaction between the location of the sound and whether the AAMRL HRTF or ANN HRTF is used. Comparing the number of reversals does not indicate a large difference between the AAMRL HRTF and the RBF HRTF.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GE-ENG-94D-21

DTIC Accession Number

ADA289422

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

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