Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
Published on: March 13, 2026
Information transfer in auditoria and room-acoustical quality
1Applied Research in Acoustics LLC, 1222 4th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2302, USA. jason.e.summers@ariacoustics.com
Abstract:
It is hypothesized that room-acoustical quality correlates with the information-transfer rate. Auditoria are considered as multiple-input multiple-output communication channels and a theory of information-transfer is outlined that accounts for time-variant multipath, spatial hearing, and distributed directional sources. Source diversity and spatial hearing are shown to be the mechanisms through which multipath increases the information-transfer rate by overcoming finite spatial resolution. In addition to predictions that are confirmed by recent and historical findings, the theory provides explanations for the influence of factors such as musical repertoire and ensemble size on subjective preference and the influence of multisource, multichannel auralization on perceived realism.
Related Concept Videos
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Auditory Perception
Echo
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...
Anatomy of the Ear
Sound Intensity
Properties of Fourier Transform I
In radio broadcasting, multiple audio signals often need to be transmitted simultaneously. The Fourier...

