title: A comparative study of Interaural Time Delay estimation methods.
abstract: The Interaural Time Delay (ITD) is an important binaural cue for sound source localization. Calculations of ITD values are obtained either from measured time domain Head-Related Impulse Responses (HRIRs) or from their frequency transform Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs). Numerous methods exist in current literature, based on a variety of definitions and assumptions of the nature of the ITD as an acoustic cue. This work presents a thorough comparative study of the degree of variability between some of the most common methods for calculating the ITD from measured data. Thirty-two different calculations or variations are compared for positions on the horizontal plane for the HRTF measured on both a KEMAR mannequin and a rigid sphere. Specifically, the spatial variations of the methods are investigated. Included is a discussion of the primary potential causes of these differences, such as the existence of multiple peaks in the HRIR of the contra-lateral ear for azimuths near the inter-aural axis due to multipath propagation and head/pinnae shadowing.
authors.affiliation: Audio Acoustique, LIMSI-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91403 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Brian F G
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: UMR STMS IRCAM-CNRS-UPMC, 1 place Igor-Stravinsky, 75004 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noisternig