SPATIAL DIGITAL AUDIO AS USED FOR SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR SIMULATORS

MYERS LABORATORIES HAS DEVELOPED A THREE-DIMENSIONAL, AUDITORY DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY THAT UTILIZES THE HUMAN AUDITORY SYSTEM'S ABILITY TO LOCALIZE THE DIRECTION AND DISTANCE OF A SOUND SOURCE. THE TECHNOLOGY MIMICS THE HUMAN AUDITORY LOCALIZATION SYSTEM, BY COMPUTER EMULATION OF THE NATURAL BINAURAL AUDITORY SIGNAL PROCESSING (BIONIC EMULATION). AN OUTGROWTH OF THE TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN THE RESEARCH INTOTHE USE OF SUBAUDIBLE SOUND (INFRASONIC SOUND) AS A MEANS TO BOTH BROADEN THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL AUDITORY DISPLAYS AND PROVIDE OTHER COMPLEX SITUATION INFORMATION. AS A RESULT, THE TECHNOLOGY WILL DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE OPERATOR TO COMPLEX SYSTEM INTERFACE BY PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF INFORMATION TRANSFER TO THE BRAIN IN A MANNER THAT BOTH AUGMENTS AND COMPLEMENTS THE OPERATOR'S VISUAL PERCEPTION SYSTEM. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN SIMULATORS WHERE, THE OPERATOR IS BROUGHT MORE DEEPLY INTO THE SIMULATION BECAUSE MORE OF THE SENSES ARE INVOLVED. FURTHER, EFFECTIVE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SOUNDS WILL HELP MASK THE UNWANTED SIMULATOR SOUNDS CAUSED FROM THE SIMULATOR MACHINERY ITSELF.