ZHONG Xiaoli  XIE Bosun

(Acoustics Laboratory, School of Physics, South China University of Technology  Guangzhou  510641)

Received Feb. 17, 2006

Revised May 30, 2006

Abstract  Methods for analyzing the spatial symmetry of head-related transfer function (HRTF) are proposed. The influences of anatomical structures on the symmetry of HRTF are investigated using HRTFs measured on KEMAR mannequin and human subjects. Results show that for KEMAR mannequin, pinnae destroy the front-back symmetry of HRTF above 5 to 6 kHz, while for human subjects the frequency reduces to 2.5 kHz because of the locations of ears. Furthermore, at low and median frequencies, HRTF is approximately left-right symmetrical. While as frequencies increase, the asymmetry caused by the fine anatomical left-right differences appears. The starting frequency and the extent of the left-right asymmetry in HRTF depend on individuals. The analyses demonstrate the spatial symmetrical characteristics of HRTF and the frequency ranges in which the current binaural models are valid.

PACS number: 43.60, 43.66