Distance simulation in virtual audio displays

Recent advances in the field of Audio Virtual Reality have focused on the simulation of direction in virtual audio displays. The potential to add elementary distance cues to these displays remains largely unexploited. A number of audio cues have been identified that provide exocentric, or relative, and egocentric, or absolute, distance information. Two of these cues, intensity and first-order reflections, are examined closely by this paper. These cues can be simulated in a virtual audio display using simple geometric calculation and digital signal processing techniques. A short experiment examining the effectiveness of these cues was performed.