Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization

Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTF's) characterize the transformation of pressure waves from the sound source to the listener's eardrums. They are of central interest to binaural hearing and to sound localization. The HRTF is a function of the azimuth and elevation of the sound source, and may vary from subject to subject. The functional dependence of the HRTF on azimuth and elevation is first described, and models that provide good spatial localization in azimuth are reviewed. We than discuss recent work on the more complete subject dependent models that are needed for good localization and discrimination in elevation.