Final Thesis

The influence of a realistic acoustic classroom scene on auditory selective attention

The ability to focus our attention on a specific sound source in complex everyday situations is a very fascinating skill, which is widely described as auditory selective attention (ASA). A new approach allows to investigate ASA in a realistic virtual reality (VR) environment. Next to this close-to-real-life visual scenario, an appropriate auditory scene needs to be considered. Previous studies have investigated the effect of reverberation and simple noise sources. The results suggest the need to consider more realistic and complex acoustic scenarios, such as binaural classroom noise or room acoustics. In this thesis, the influence of more realistic background noise on auditory selective attention will be investigated using a listening experiment. Therefore, a suitable acoustic scene needs to be defined and integrated with the established virtual classroom setting.

Requirements:
- interest to design and conduct a listening experiment
- basic programming skills, - German language skills

Optional Skills:
- Knowledge of MATLAB
- Unity
- C#