Professor Yoichi Ando, acoustic architectural designer of the Kirishima International Concert Hall in Japan, presents a comprehensive rational-scientific approach to designing performance spaces. His theory is based on systematic psychoacoustical observations of spatial hearing and listener preferences, whose neuronal correlates are observed in the neurophysiology of the human brain. A correlation-based model of neuronal signal processing in the central auditory system is proposed in which temporal sensations (pitch, timbre, loudness, duration) are represented by an internal autocorrelation representation, and spatial sensations (sound location, size, diffuseness related to envelopment) are represented by an internal interaural crosscorrelation function. Together these two internal central auditory representations account for the basic auditory qualities that are relevant for listening to music and speech in indoor performance spaces. Observed psychological and neurophysiological commonalities between auditory and visual sensations and preference patterns are presented and discussed. This book thus spans the disciplines of physics, acoustics, psychology, neurophysiology, and music production, thereby blending science, engineering, and art.

This is an approach from the auditory and visual brain activities and functioning to sensations. This book is concerned with physics, psychology, brain physiology, blending science and art. Temporal sensations such as pitch or missing fundamental, loudness, timbre, and duration sensation, which is introduced here as the fourth, may be described by the temporal factors extracted from the autocorrelation function (ACF), which are associated with the left hemisphere. On the other hand, spatial sensations such as localization in the horizontal plane, apparent source width (ASW) and subjective diffuseness are described by the spatial factors extracted from the inter aural cross correlation function (IACF) are associated with the right hemisphere.

I Temporal and Spatial Sensations in the human auditory system.- Temporal and Spatial Aspects of Sounds and Sound Fields.- Subjective Preferences for Sound Fields.- Electrical and Magnetic Responses in the Central Auditory System.- Model of Temporal and Spatial Factors in the Central Auditory System.- Temporal Sensations of the Sound Signal.- Spatial Sensations of Binaural Signals.- Applications (I) - Music and Concert Hall Acoustics.- Applications (II) - Speech Reception in Sound Fields.- Applications (III) - Noise Measurement.- Applications (IV) - Noise Annoyance.- II Temporal and Spatial Sensations in the Human Visual System.- to Visual Sensations.- Temporal and Spatial Sensations in Vision.- Subjective Preferences in Vision.- EEG and MEG Correlates of Visual Subjective Preferences.- Summary of Auditory and Visual Sensations.