For as long as we humans have lived on Earth, we have been able to use our ears to localize the sources of sounds. Our ability to localize warns us of danger and helps us sort out individual sounds from the usual cacophony of our acoustical world. Characterizing this ability in humans and other animals makes an intriguing physical, physiological, and psychological study (see figure 1).
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
J. Blauert, Spatial Hearing, 2nd ed., J. S. Allen, trans., MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1997).
6.
F. L.
Wightman
, D. J.
Kistler
, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
105
, 2841
(1999
).7.
N. I. Durlach, H. S. Colburn, in Handbook of Perception, vol. 4, E. Carterette, M. P. Friedman, eds., Academic, New York (1978).
8.
W. M.
Hartmann
, A. T.
Wittenberg
, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
99
, 3678
(1996
).9.
R. Y.
Litovsky
, B.
Rakerd
, T. C. T.
Yin
, W. M.
Hartmann
, J. Neurophysiol.
77
, 2223
(1997
).10.
11.
R. M.
Stern
, H. S.
Colburn
, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
64
, 127
(1978
).12.
T. C. T.
Yin
, J. C. K.
Chan
, J. Neurophysiol.
64
, 465
(1990
).
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1999 American Institute of Physics.
1999
American Institute of Physics
