Binaural Audio with End User Control:
A Binaural, Virtual Reality Nature Walk for Oculus Quest 2 with User Controllable Equalization
Project Overview
Binaural Audio with End User Control is a research and creative project exploring how listeners can actively shape their immersive audio experiences in virtual reality. Built for the Oculus Quest 2, the project presents an interactive nature walk, Seasons Forest VR, where users explore four seasonal environments while listening to original Ambisonic music and environmental sound design.
Unlike most VR applications, where audio controls stop at simple volume adjustments, this project introduces a user-accessible, gain-compensated equalizer. With six frequency bands tailored to perceptual descriptors like Feel, Warmth, Presence, and Brilliance, listeners can personalize the timbre of their spatial mix in real-time without degrading localization or immersion.
Research Foundations
The work draws on a wide range of research in auditory physiology, sound localization, binaural synthesis, and immersive media design. Topics investigated include:
How the human auditory system encodes direction and distance through interaural cues.
The role of individualized vs. generalized HRTFs in binaural reproduction.
The challenges of headphone transfer functions and Inside-the-Head Locatedness (IHL).
Methods for Ambisonic mixing, Unity integration, and spatial audio toolkits (DearVR, Oculus Spatializer).
The creative roles of sound design and music in establishing presence and immersion.
Creative Contributions
As lead developer, I designed and built the entire project in Unity, integrating visuals with a fully spatialized audio pipeline. I composed and produced original AmbiX-format music compositions for each season, and I personally captured Ambisonic ambiences in local state parks to bring realism to the natural environments. In addition, I implemented and mixed all sound design, environmental audio, and music assets heard within the experience, ensuring consistency between technical precision and artistic intent.
Impact & Significance
This project demonstrates that binaural VR audio can be both technically rigorous and user-centered, giving listeners agency in how they perceive and enjoy immersive soundscapes. It also points toward future applications in gaming, virtual field trips, therapeutic sound environments, and other interactive media where personalization enhances accessibility and engagement
Special Thanks
This project would not have been possible without the help of both Andy Bainton (Aptitude Audio - MPEQ Programmer) and Yaakov Schlacter (Unity Audio Plugin Integration and Interfacing), as well as my Final Project committee, which consisted of John Merchant, Michael Fleming, and Cosette Collier.