A Semi-automated Mesh Editing Pipeline for HRTF Simulation

Head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), which are useful for rendering realistic binaural audio, depend on an individual's unique ear and head morphology. Although direct measurement of HRTFs is accurate, it is also resource-intensive, making simulation an attractive alternative. However, 3D scanner outputs often require extensive editing to meet the quality requirements for simulation. This work presents a semi-automated pipeline that streamlines mesh preparation by non-rigidly registering a template to 3D scans to produce meshes suitable for acoustic simulation. The most accurate pipeline achieved a worst-case reconstruction error of 0.8 mm globally and landmark errors of 3 mm and 2.6 mm for the left and right ears, respectively.