Acoustics & Psychoacoustics

Bernhard U. Seeber

Audio Information Processing
Technische Universität München
80290 München, Germany
ph.: +49 89 289 28282

Research Topics

• Auditory scene analysis of people with normal and impaired hearing, i.e. how to hear a particular sound in a potpourri of others. Integration of monaural and binaural information in the normal and impaired auditory system. (e.g. co-modulation masking release, temporal fine structure vs envelope information, auditory grouping).

• Auditory localization, binaural hearing, and the precedence effect in normal hearing, with hearing aids, and with cochlear implants (CIs). Why can some users of cochlear implants localize so well while others can not? (e.g. localization cues, CI-localization, precedence effect).

• Signal processing for hearing devices: How can hearing devices support the auditory system with analysing the auditory scene and maintaining localization ability? Current topics include the investigation of binaural compression algorithms in hearing aids and the encoding of binaural cues for cochlear implants.

• Real and virtual environments for psychoacoustic testing: localization setups in the anechoic chamber (Nottingham, Berkeley, Munich), virtual acoustics for loudspeaker and headphone presentation as well as room simulations in the free-field over multiple loudspeakers, the Simulated Open Field Environment created by me.

• The impact of information in auditory (localization) cues on the perceived position, object externalization, and multimodal interaction - see also my thesis.

• Auditory localization methods: How do you ask a person where a sound was heard from? In my thesis I developed the ProDePo-method for localization studies which is highly accurate and can be used from about 5 years of age onwards. Currently we develop a test for localization ability of children.

• Interaction between modalities: How is information integrated from different modalities and what makes information from one modality be more reliable or dominant to others, e.g. in auditory-visual interaction?

• The masking phenomenon in psychoacoustics or what makes mp3 or your cell phone working?
  See the page about my diploma thesis, have a look at the masking data from Zwicker, Jaroszewski and Sonntag, or read my overview on masking.

• ... and of interest are the many technical aspects that make research in acoustics work: acoustical measurements, digital signal processing, interactive virtual auditory-visual environments, programming, Linux, ... (e.g. CI-compatibility, Békésy-audiometer).