Synthesis of shape dependent sounds with physical modeling

Abstract

We describe a general framework for the simulation of sounds produced by colliding physical objects in a real time graphics environment. The framework is based on a physical model of the vibration dynamics of bodies. The computed sounds depend on the material of the body and its shape. A key contribution of this work is that the sounds also depend on the location of impact on a struck object. This adds important realism to virtual environments. The framework has been implemented in a Sonic Explorer program, which simulates a room with several objects such as a chair, tables, and rods. After a preprocessing stage, the user can hit the objects at different points to interactively produce realistic sounds. We also have created an online demo of the sound synthesis, written in Java.