Head and torso simulators are used extensively within acoustic research, often in place of human subjects in time-consuming or repetitive experiments. Particularly common is the Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR), which has the acoustic auditory properties of an average human head. As an alternative to physical acoustic measurements, the boundary element method (BEM) is widely used to calculate the propagation of sound using computational models of a scenario. Combining this technique with a compatible 3D surface mesh of KEMAR would allow for detailed binaural analysis of speaker distributions and decoder design - without the disadvantages associated with making physical measurements.
This paper details the development and validation of a BEM-compatible mesh model of KEMAR, based on the original computer-aided design (CAD) file and valid up to 20 kHz. Use of the CAD file potentially allows a very close match to be achieved between the mesh and the physical manikin. The mesh is consistent with the original CAD description, both in terms of overall volume and of local topology, and the numerical requirements for BEM compatibility have been met. Computational limitations restrict usage of the mesh in its current state, so simulation accuracy cannot as yet be compared with acoustically measured HRTFs. Future work will address the production of meshes suitable for use in BEM with lower computational requirements, using the process validated in this work
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)