Navigation performance effects of render method and head-turn latency in mobile audio augmented reality

Abstract

This study assessed participant performance of an outdoor navigation task using a mobile audio augmented reality system. Several quantitative performance measures and one subjective measure were used to compare the perceptual efficacy of Ambisonic and VBAP binaural rendering techniques, and a range of head-turn latencies. The study extends existing indoors research on the effects of head-turn latency for seated listeners. The pilot experiment found that a source capture radius of 2 meters significantly affected the sole participant's navigation distance efficiency compared to other radii. The main experiment, using 8 participants, found that render method significantly affected all performance measures except subjective stability rating, while head-turn latency only affected mean track curvature and subjective stability. Results also showed an interaction in which the choice of rendering method mitigated or potentiated the effects of head-turn latency on perceived source stability. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.