Publications

Background: Loneliness and social isolation in older age are considered major public health concerns and research on technology-based solutions is growing rapidly. This scoping review of reviews aims to summarize the communication technologies (CTs) (review question RQ1), theoretical frameworks (RQ2), study designs (RQ3), and positive effects of technology use (RQ4) present in the research field. Methods: A comprehensive multi-disciplinary, multi-database literature search was conducted. Identified reviews were analyzed according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework. A total of N = 28 research reviews that cover 248 primary studies spanning 50 years were included. Results: The majority of the included reviews addressed general internet and computer use (82% each) (RQ1). Of the 28 reviews, only one (4%) worked with a theoretical framework (RQ2) and 26 (93%) covered primary studies with quantitative-experimental designs (RQ3). The positive effects of technology use were shown in 55% of the outcome measures for loneliness and 44% of the outcome measures for social isolation (RQ4). Conclusion: While research reviews show that CTs can reduce loneliness and social isolation in older people, causal evidence is limited and insights on innovative technologies such as augmented reality systems are scarce.

Augmented or mixed reality (AR/MR) is emerging as one of the key technologies in the future of computing. Audio cues are critical for maintaining a high degree of realism, social connection, and spatial awareness for various AR/MR applications, such as education and training, gaming, remote work, and virtual social gatherings to transport the user to an alternate world called the metaverse. Motivated by a wide variety of AR/MR listening experiences delivered over hearables, this article systematically reviews the integration of fundamental and advanced signal processing techniques for AR/MR audio to equip researchers and engineers in the signal processing community for the next wave of AR/MR.

This study examines the plausibility of Auditory Augmented Reality (AAR) realized with position-dynamic binaural synthesis over headphones. An established method to evaluate the plausibility of AAR asks participants to decide whether they are listening to the virtual or real version of the sound object. To date, this method has only been used to evaluate AAR systems for seated listeners. The AAR realization examined in this study instead allows listeners to turn to arbitrary directions and walk towards, past, and away from a real loudspeaker that reproduced sound only virtually. The experiment was conducted in two parts. In the first part, the subjects were asked whether they are listening to the real or the virtual version, not knowing that it was always the virtual version. In the second part, the real versions of the scenes where the loudspeaker actually reproduced sound were added. Two different source positions, three different test stimuli, and two different sound levels were considered. Seventeen volunteers, including five experts, participated. In the first part, none of the participants noticed that the virtual reproduction was active throughout the different test scenes. The inexperienced listeners tended to accept the virtual reproduction as real, while experts distributed their answers approximately equally. In the second part, experts could identify the virtual version quite reliably. For inexperienced listeners, the individual results varied enormously. Since the presence of the headphones influences the perception of the real sound field, this shadowing effect had to be considered in the creation of the virtual sound source as well. This requirement still limits test methods considering the real version in its ecological validity. Although the results indicate that the availability of a hidden real reference leads to a more critical evaluation, it is crucial to be aware that the presence of the headphones slightly distorts the reference. This issue seems more vital to the plausibility estimates achieved with this evaluation method than the increased freedom in motion.

In binaural rendering, the room divergence effect refers to the decrease in perceived externalization due to a mismatch between the room acoustics of the virtual sounds and those of the listening space. However, it is currently unknown which specific acoustic differences cause this effect. In this work, we present a pilot study to determine detection thresholds between sound sources recorded under different acoustic conditions in a variable acoustics room. These results are intended to predict situations where divergence effects can be expected. The participants had to perform a triangle test where they could listen to three sound sources placed at different positions in the room. The test design was motivated by the fact that sound sources are not placed at the same position in real acoustic scenes. One sound source was recorded under different acoustic conditions than the other two, and the task for the participant was to detect the differing source. The test was conducted in the measured room using 3 DoF binaural reproduction and using a virtual reality (VR) headset to display a visual 360 capture of the room enabling the subjects to see the positions of the sources in the room. Detection rates are signal-dependent and increase with differences in reverberation time (RT). For the most critical signal in the test (castanets), an RT difference of 8% was detectable, while the difference was 15% across all conditions. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of sound source distance and absorption configuration (symmetric or asymmetric) on detection thresholds.