Julie Meyer will give a presentation titled “Numerical and perceptual evaluations of finite-difference time-domain simulations for room acoustics applications” on Wednesday, 24 September 2025 at 14:30 in building 19, room 3011 at the University of Southampton. This talk is part of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) seminar series. The event is hybrid and can be attended online via Teams with Meeting ID: 354 860 540 989 6 and Passcode: tV343FU7

Abstract: The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is widely used as a computational room acoustic modelling technique. One impediment to the efficiency of the method is its large computational cost. Although its performance can significantly be improved by using graphics processing units, the accuracy of the FDTD-computed solutions remains limited by the numerical errors that the method entails. This talk focuses on the analysis of the discretization error which not only limits the numerical accuracy of the simulation results, but also the perceptual accuracy by giving raise to audible artefacts in the auralizations. Considering some of the key elements which constitute an immersive audio application, this talk is given in the context of binaural synthesis and head-related transfer function prediction.