Development of a VR acoustic system and visualization and evaluation of localization ability of blind soccer players to multiple static sound sources

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a virtual space acoustic system to identify the sound source localization ability specific to blind soccer players. Using stereophonic technology, the sound source can be generated at an arbitrary position in the virtual space, and a virtual space acoustic system was developed to simulate the acoustic experience on a blind soccer court by simply putting on headphones. Comparison between the system and a real space showed that the spatial resolution of the sound sources that can be reproduced by the system is approximately-0.120 m<x<0.124 m for the front-back component and -0.103 m<y<0.118 m for the left-right component. The system can also be used to simulate the voice of a blind soccer player. Using this system, we measured the sound source localization ability specific to blind soccer players. In the single-task test, the correct response rate was 67.4 % for the experienced players and 57.9 % for the inexperienced players, indicating that the experienced players had a significantly higher correct response rate. In addition, the experienced group had significantly higher percentages of correct responses for all sound sources in the double- and triple-task examinations. The percentage of correct responses decreased significantly with each additional task for the inexperienced participants, while there was no significant difference between the single and double tasks for the experienced participants. Therefore, sound source localization ability for multiple sound sources is considered to be important in blind soccer. The VR acoustic system we have developed allows users to visualize areas of difficulty, such as sound source type, distance, and direction, and to train sound source localization skills appropriate to the individual.