Re: question on localization with "horns"

["Didier Depireux, PhD" <ddepi001@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

noam sobel wrote:
> Dear list
>
> I remember once reading about an old (19th century?)
> study where "horns" inserted into the ears were used
> to improve auditory spatial localization in humans, as
> a result of the artificially increased distance
> between the ears.
>   
Not exactly what you are looking for, but if you are trying to 
illustrate that it's easier to localize sounds with more widely 
separated ears there's a museum in Het *Netherlands that documents early 
listening devices * for acoustic detection of airplanes.
http://www.museumwaalsdorp.nl/en/airacous.html

In particular, look at the extreme examples of horns in
http://www.museumwaalsdorp.nl/en/waalsdor.html

or at http://www.museumwaalsdorp.nl/images/tjechoak.gif . In the back 
you have widely separated ears, in the front you have a barn owl type of 
set-up with asymetric ears ( picture from the front in 
http://www.museumwaalsdorp.nl/images/goerz.gif )

				Didier

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