Reproduction of the modal response of enclosures by means of interactive auralization

A method to create an interactive auralization of the modal response of a room is presented. The process is based on the numerical estimation of the spatial impulse responses of the enclosure using a combination of the finite element method and geometrical acoustics. The acoustic field is then reconstructed by means of a plane wave expansion, which allows for interactive features such as translation of the sound field. The auralization is presented to the listener using a headphone-based binaural system. Compared to techniques based only on geometrical acoustic predictions, this hybrid methodology produces a more accurate rendering of the acoustic field at low frequencies, thus providing an effective tool to reproduce the modal response of enclosures in real-time.