Holophonic sound reproduction using Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) [1] aims at recreating a virtual spatialized sound scene in an extended area. Applying this technique to synthesize virtual sources located within an indoor environment can create striking audio effects in the context of virtual or augmented reality applications. However, interactions of the synthesized sound field with the listening room must be taken into account for they cause modifications in the resulting sound field. This paper enumerates some of these interactions according to different virtual scene configurations and applications. Particular attention is paid to the reproduction of the sound source directivity and to the reproduction of a room effect coherent with the real environment. Solutions for synthesizing the directivity of the source and the associated room effect are proposed and discussed around simulations, developpements and first perceptual validation.

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Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) provides a means for reproducing 3D sound fields over an extended area. Beyond conventional audio reproduction applications, present research at IRCAM involves augmenting the realism of concert-based applications in which real musicians will be interacting on stage with virtual sources reproduced by WFS. The stake of such a situation is to create virtual sound sources which behave as closely as possible to real sound sources, in order to obtain a natural balance between real and virtual sources. The goal of this article is to point out physical differences between real sound sources and WFS reproduced sources situated at the same position, considering successively the sound field associated to the direct sound of the virtual source and its interaction with the room. Methods for taking into account and compensating these differences are proposed.

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