Position: Spatial Sound Programmer/Developer

Project: Adding supplemental spatial (3D) audio to a Virtual Environment for managing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

Project goals: Investigate, implement and evaluate the addition of spatial sound (3D sound sources) to a Virtual Environment for managing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

Who should apply? Open to Graduate and undergraduate students who demonstrate the capability to develop the needed software. One (1) year of funding will be provided for selected Graduate students. Undergraduate students will be paid on an hourly basis. Continued employment opportunities will be determined based on satisfactory progress and the availability of funding.

Skill/Abilities needed:

• Programming in C++ within the general VR setup for the UAV application (Linux, potentially Windows)
• Integration of 3D sound functionality in a virtual environment using VrJuggler
• Use of spatial sound APIs such as FMOD or OpenAL
• Ability to process and edit sound files with Audacity, SoundForge, etc.
• While 3D graphics programming knowledge (OpenGL, OSG, OpenSG, etc.) is not directly involved, it helps in understanding the overall system.

Project description:
This is an exploratory project build around a large existing software infrastructure. Currently we envision the following: Objects used within the currently existing UAV application (SAM-sites, enemies, unrecognized new contacts, etc.) will be attached to certain sounds sources (audio files) and played at their relative direction (and distance) to the user’s position via headphones. To the user it should appear that the sound is coming from the direction of the object and indicate whether the object is getting closer to the user. The sound sources need to be designed to effectively convey the nature of the attached object (e.g. “audio question mark” for new contacts) to the user. This collection of sound sources may change over time as the user changes position and as the other objects enter or leave a certain “listening” range. This range is based on real space but may vary based on the nature of the attached object (e.g. a just-discovered far away SAM site needs to be brought to the user’s attention for sure, whereas the sound for a nearby friendly might be played with less “intensity”).

These additional sound sources aim to complement the visual display, especially for objects currently behind the user. This should work as a sort of audio “rear-view mirror” for the user and should eventually be combined with head tracking to account for the user’s head movements.

A user study (with students) will be conducted at a later stage to compare the effectiveness of this audio-enhanced setup to the visual-only version, possibly involving task completion time and/or error, user confidence, and user comfort. We may also investigate whether users find that adding spatial audio adds to their perceived level of immersion.

Please send a resume, including your background and major, relevant courses you have taken and projects you have worked on as a programmer to charding < at > iastate.edu

Chris Harding, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
Virtual Reality Applications Center
Human-Computer Interaction Program
1620 Howe Hall
Ames, Iowa 50011-2274
515 294-4868
Web page: http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/~charding/
Research blog: http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/~charding/research_blog
http://del.icio.us/charding