In the middle of the music: A qualitative study of headset and loudspeaker distributed interactive spatial audio within a musical mixed-reality environment

In this paper the authors introduce, describe and present their findings from a qualitative study of users’ perceptions and experiences of virtual musical content delivered over a loudspeaker array and virtual musical content delivered through a VR headset in the context of a mixed-reality environment. Examples of related work are presented which raise questions regarding what the perceptual advantages might be of loudspeaker delivered audio in mixed-reality, and what impact the visual presence of the loudspeaker array has on the plausibility of virtual graphical content being perceived as the source of the virtual audio content. Additionally, the design of a system that allowed study participants to seamlessly switch between loudspeaker and headset delivered audio content within the context of a single musical mixed-reality environment is described. By way of a conclusion based on the analysis of qualitative data obtained from this pilot study, it is determined that participants experienced a greater sense of immersion with the loudspeaker distributed musical content, specifically a feeling of being present within, or at, a live musical performance. Though it is also concluded that the visual presence of the loudspeaker array affected participants’ ability to attribute the virtual audio output directly to the virtual graphical content.