Development

Infrastructures: facilities and resources

IAC's Experimentation Room | ITC's HRTF Measurements Room | Development and Integration Laboratories | Video Registry and Edition System | Functional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance | Other Significant Resources

During the operation years of the project different infrastructures that still are to our disposition, and at wich we daily made the experiments and test that the investigations in course demands, have been developed.

IAC's Experimentation Room

It consists of a of 50 square meters cellar, prepared acoustic to have a variable, adjustable reverberation through the gradual installation of sonorous absorbent panels. It has a 10 square meters lobby where the electronic equipment and computer science are located, doubly isolated of the acoustic room. (Here you can see images of the history of the preparation of this room).

In this room they are mounted and in voluntarily situation of use the elements that compose the multisource experiment, such as the matrix of 56 loudspeakers and its elements of control, implemented in the HURON system. We also have an objetive signalling registry system that indicates, in an absolute oordinates system, the positions to which indicate the user, a fundamental question when one is to determine the exactitude of a externalización.

This experimentation room also lodges the laboratoty experimentation prototype that generates a virtual acoustic space based on a camcorder that calculates the distances through the determination of the apparent size of a fix dimension reason (15 cm black circle), and an hearing and reproduction system for externalized sounds associeted with the found out distances.

The mentioned specific infrastructures are completed with general type services also available, such as telephone, computer science network, air ventilation, printers, uninterrupted electrical provision, etc.

ITC's HRTF Measurements Room

The project arranges, at the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands, of an installation to the measurement of HRTF transference functions that by its characteristics is unique in the world, and is designed to serve like powerful tool of investigation in the externalization of sounds. (Here you can see images of the history of the preparation of this room).

Within a equipped 8 x 4 x 4 meters acoustic room, we have settled a robot that positions a loudspeaker in a vertical plane in two dimensions (6 xs 4 meters), which together with a spin table allows cylindrically to explore the totality of the space around the user until a distance of 6 meters. He is also able to orient the loudspeaker towards the user, to take advantage of the maxima directive answer.

The system is completely automatic in its use, and has the advisable mechanisms of security to guarantee the physical integrity of the user whose functions HRTF are being moderate.

Development and Integration Laboratories

The project has constructed and equipped individual development laboratories, usable also in integration and verification, electronics and optics, which have also been located in the seat of the the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), at Tenerife island.

The Electronics Laboratory has been equipped with two banks of electronic work, tools of general intention, multmetres, oscilloscopes, weld stations, etc., which supposes an effective complement from the practical point of view of the electronic equipment of IAC and ULL that also are available for their use by the personnel of the project.

To the assemblies work and tests of optical nature we also have a set of work boards, supports, lenses of general intention, that also are completed with the access to the equipment and optical deviceses of IAC and ULL.

Video Registry and Edition System

The nature of the experiments that are made, that includes blind people who move oriented with sounds, require a complete documentation that can solely be obtained by means of the recording of the images of the mentioned tests. To so objective the project it has professional digital camcorder, completed with a video edition station also digital cradle in the Matrox R2500 card. We also have digital cameras of hi-res to the documentation and registry of materials, equipment and tests.

Functional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The work group counts in its salary with the pride of to have promoted the accomplishment of functional nuclear magnetic resonances for the first time in the Canary Islands, with investigating purpose, in collaboration with the equipment of radiologists of the IMETISA company that manages corresponding infrastructures in the University Hospital of the Canary Islands.

Having identified the importance of this tool of investigation in the neurobiology and neuropsychology of the perception, the project has promoted the installation of a new oriented equipment of magnetic resonance to investigation in a strong percentage, task that at the moment is in very advanced state.

Other Signifcant Resources

Two great resources are possible to mention as active able to provide a fort initial impulse in the walking towards our objectives: the contact with the blind people and the prestige of the project. One is questions of impossible quantification, but that they affect clearly favorably obtaining a good position to begin.

The contact with the blind people, which constitute the potential market at least initially, is a fundamental element facing the determination of the benefits, the evaluation of the necessities, the resistance of the specifications, but in addition the refeeding in form to opinions of users is without a doubt essential if it is tried to obtain a reasonable diffusion. The project is very known in the surroundings of the blind people of our country, counts on an elevated number of blind habitual collaborators, it has made multiple contacts and collaborations with ONCE, and specifically with CIDAT, the center in charge of the technical assistance systems, and it even has two investigating blind people between his members.

Our project habitually is presented like an example inside the institutions in which it was born, IAC and ULL, which constitute a superb referring one in surroundings I+D of Spain. This prestige has overflowed the university atmosphere to end at masses comunication media in several occasions, which have become echo very positively of the objectives and the march of a project of great "visibility" like which it occupies to us (see section " Press Cuts"). We are very proud because our project is even mentioned in text books for very young people. Here is a page of the "Physics and Chemistry 4º ESO" book, published by SM.