Lateralization of Sounds Using Bone-Conduction Headsets

Abstract

Participants reported the apparent lateralization of sounds as a function of interaural level differences, for stimuli delivered through bone-conduction headsets and standard headphones. The results showed that non-externalized spatial audio can be invoked with the bonephones, a device that provides the unique advantage of not covering the ears of the listener. Furthermore, the degree of lateralization with bonephones can be similar to that produced using headphones. These data provide a function relating the input into bonephones or headphones to the resulting percept of lateralization, in a manner that may be particularly useful for mobile and low-resource computing applications.