Sound zone algorithms control the inputs to a loudspeaker array such that spatially distinct zones, each with separate audio content, are created. This work proposes a sound zone approach which includes a model of human auditory perception in the optimization problem designing the loudspeaker control filters. The control filters are therefore optimized directly for human experience, rather than by proxy through sound pressure, as is done in typical approaches. The proposed optimization problem features a perceptually weighted constraint on the bright zone reproduction error, which allows the user of the algorithm to specify the desired bright zone quality. The proposed method achieves 2 to 4 dB of additional acoustic contrast and is expected to yield less distracting dark-zone interference for the same perceived quality when compared to a traditional approach.

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Accurate sound field reproduction in rooms is often limited by the lack of knowledge of the room characteristics. Information about the room shape or nearby reflecting boundaries can, in principle, be used to improve the accuracy of the reproduction. In this paper, we propose a method to infer the location of nearby reflecting boundaries from measurements on a microphone array. As opposed to traditional methods, we explicitly exploit the loudspeaker directivity model (beyond omnidirectional radiation) and the microphone array geometry. This approach does not require noiseless timing information of the echoes as input, nor a tailored loudspeaker-wall-microphone measurement step. Simulations show the proposed model outperforms current methods that disregard directivity in reverberant environments.@en