This tool is located under "verse/tools/bin" folder and its purpose is to show the content of a .sofa file (Spatially Oriented Format for Audio)
This file format is defined by the Audio Engineering Society (AES) within the standard AES69-2022 see also sofaconventions
VERSE usese this format for both the HRTF (head related transfer function) and RIR (room impulse response).
The syntax of this command has the following options:
./display_sofa.py -h
usage: display_sofa.py [-h] [-l] [-yp YAML_PARAMS] [-mf MEASURE_FILE] [-c CPU_PROCESS] [-g GRAPHS] [-ssc] [-src] [-sss SHOW_SELECTED_SOURCE]
[-ssr SHOW_SELECTED_RECEIVER] [-v] [-log LOGFILE]
Read compute_hrir results and save SOFA file (Spatially Oriented Format for Acoustics)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-l, --list_folders show list of available sessions
-yp YAML_PARAMS, --yaml_params YAML_PARAMS
yaml input params file (default: None)
-mf MEASURE_FILE, --measure_file MEASURE_FILE
SOFA file to open
-c CPU_PROCESS, --cpu_process CPU_PROCESS
maximum number of CPU process to use
-g GRAPHS, --graphs GRAPHS
skip, save, show, show_and_save (default: show)
-ssc, --show_sources_coordinates
show sources coordinates (default: False)
-src, --show_receivers_coordinates
show receivers coordinates (default: False)
-sss SHOW_SELECTED_SOURCE, --show_selected_source SHOW_SELECTED_SOURCE
show impulse response for selected source, shperical coordinates (default: 0,0,1)
-ssr SHOW_SELECTED_RECEIVER, --show_selected_receiver SHOW_SELECTED_RECEIVER
show impulse response for selected receiver on selected source, trackid or all (default: all)
-v, --verbose verbose (default: False)
-log LOGFILE, --logfile LOGFILE
log verbose output to file (default: None)
This tool is needed to visualize the position in space of source/emitters and listener/receivers. This tool will also visualize the audio measure (impulse response) associated to the specified source and receiver (or all of them if they are not specified)
As an example we can reference the "head_003" from "[VERSE]/resources/heads/unimore/files" folder. Here we can find more .sofa file that are associated to different pairs of receivers.
.
├── head_001
│ └── head_001.sofa
└── head_003
├── dry-20250223_001_array_six_front.sofa
├── dry-20250223_001_array_six_middle.sofa
├── dry-20250223_001_array_six_rear.sofa
└── dry-20250223_001_binaural.sofa
Using the "dry-20250223_001_binaural.sofa" file we can display all source positions and measure with the command:
cd [VERSE]/resources/heads/unimore/files
[VERSE]/tools/bin/display_sofa.py -mf ./head_003/dry-20250223_001_binaural.sofa -sss 0,0,1
the output shows the full map of available measures inside the .sofa file (on the right) with the selected source position in spherical coordinates (0,0,1) marked with a red dot on the map. On the left the impulse response (and frequency response) of the selected source for both receivers (VERSE is rendering pairs of receivers because of the 3DTune-In library)
If we select a different source the impulse response will change. For example if we select a source from the right side of the listener (azimuth 270 deg) we will get:
note how the impulse response is different between the two receivers (mics placed into ears positions) due to the marking effect of the head.
It is also possible to select one specific receiver and display the impulse response for it. For example to select the left receiver (#1) from the same file use the command:
cd [VERSE]/resources/heads/unimore/files
[VERSE]/tools/bin/display_sofa.py -mf ./head_003/dry-20250223_001_binaural.sofa -sss 0,0,1 -ssr 1
and the output will show only one measure instead of the two L/R on the same plot as before:
Sometimes it is also useful to display the position in space of the receivers associated to the measures contained inside the .sofa file. These coordinates are part of the SOFA convention and can be plotted using the "-src" option, for example:
cd [VERSE]/resources/heads/unimore/files
[VERSE]/tools/bin/display_sofa.py -mf ./head_003/dry-20250223_001_binaural.sofa -src
which will show an interactive 3D plot with two receivers placed at the location of the ears for the dummy head under test.
The two receivers are placed at a distance of about 7cm from the center of the head, ~15 cm apart from each other.
