Authoring of 3D virtual auditory Environments

Auditory authoring is an essential component in the design of virtual environments and describes the process of assigning sounds and voices to objects within a virtual 3D scene. In a broader sense, auditory authoring also includes the definition of dependencies between objects and different object states, as well as timeand user-dependent interactions in dynamic environments. Our system unifies these attributes within so called auditory textures and allows an intuitive design of 3D auditory scenes for varying applications. Furthermore, it takes care of the different perception through auditory channels and provides interactive and easy to use sonification and interaction techniques. In this paper we present the necessary concepts as well as a system for the authoring of 3D virtual auditory environments as they are used in computer games, augmented audio reality and audio-based training simulations for the visually impaired. As applications we especially focus on augmented audio reality and the applications associated with it. In the paper we provide details about the definition of 3D auditory environments along techniques for their authoring and design, as well an overview of the system itself with a discussion of several examples.