Abstract
Modern Virtual Reality technology allows for an affordable, immersive experience of three-dimensionally reconstructed real, built environments. Increasingly, not only the visual aspects of buildings can be captured and reconstructed in much detail, but also the acoustic properties of them, for instance with convolution reverb recordings. In an exploratory, empirical study with 27 lay people we investigated to which degree the captured and rendered acoustic properties of a building have to match the visual properties for a coherent virtual reality experience, mainly addressing two questions: (1) can we as non-acoustics experts, using conventional hardware, produce a realistic experience and (2) to which degree can participants distinguish different sound conditions? To do so we recorded Room Impulse Response files of three different built environments using consumer-grade equipment. We found that more than half of the participants chose the technically most accurate sound condition as the best matching for the environment. Furthermore, participants reported high levels of confidence and indicated that they could distinguish the different sound conditions to a high degree. Our study and findings are embedded into the cultural context of the indigenous people and architecture of Aotearoa/New Zealand.