Modeling the Aesthetics of Audio-Scene Reproduction

Abstract

Reviewing work from diverse scientific fields, this chapter approaches the human aesthetic response to reproduced audio as a process of attraction and efficient (“fluent”) processing for certain auditory stimuli that can be associated with listener pleasure (valence) and attention (arousal), provided that they conform to specific semantic and contextual principles, either derived from perceived signal features or from top-down cognitive processes. Recent techniques for room-related loudspeaker-based presentation of auditory scenesAuditory scene presentation, especially via multichannel reproduction, further extend the options for manipulating the source signals to allow the rendering of virtual sources beyond the frontal azimuth angles and to enhance the listener envelopment. Hence, such methods increase arousal and valence and contribute additional factors to the listeners’ aesthetic experience for reproduced natural or virtual scenes. This chapter also examines the adaptation of existing models of aesthetic response to include listeners’ aesthetic assessments of spatial-audio reproduction in conjunction with present and evolving methods for evaluating the quality of such audio presentations. Given that current sound-quality assessment methods are usually strongly rooted in objective, instrumental measures and models, which intentionally exclude the observers’ emotions, preferences and liking (hedonic response), the chapter also proposes a computational model structure that can incorporate aesthetic functionality beyond or in conjunction with quality assessment.