Directivity of the human vocal source in the horizontal plane

Area of Science:

• Acoustics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Audio Engineering

Background:

• Understanding the directional characteristics of human vocal sources is crucial for accurate audio reproduction and virtual reality applications.
• Previous research on human voice directivity is limited, necessitating further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure and analyze the horizontal directional characteristics of male and female human voices.
• To compare these measurements with existing studies and evaluate artificial sound sources for emulating human vocal directivity.

Main Methods:

• Measurements were conducted in an anechoic room to isolate vocal sounds.
• Directional characteristics were assessed in the horizontal plane for male and female speakers.
• Two loudspeakers of different sizes and a manikin were evaluated for their ability to replicate human voice directivity.

Main Results:

• The measured directional characteristics of human voices showed strong agreement with two previous studies.
• A head-sized loudspeaker effectively emulated the directional properties of a human vocal source.
• A larger loudspeaker performed poorly in emulating human voice directivity.
• A manikin designed by Olson demonstrated good agreement with averaged human voice directivity data.

Conclusions:

• Human voice directivity patterns are consistent across multiple studies.
• Acoustic design of artificial sound sources, particularly size, significantly impacts their ability to emulate human vocal directivity.
• The findings have implications for designing more realistic audio systems and virtual environments.