Audition

Audition is the ability to sense and interpret pressure waves within a range of frequencies. The system tries to solve the what and where tasks: what is the sound source (interpretation), and where is it (location)? Auditory environments vary in the number and location of sound sources, their level and in the degree of reverberation, yet biological systems have robust techniques that work over a large range of conditions. We briefly review the auditory system, including the auditory brainstem and mid-brain major components, attempting to connect its structure with the problems to be solved: locating some sounds, and interpreting important ones. Systems using knowledge of animal auditory processing are discussed, including both CPU-based and Neuromorphic approaches, starting from the auditory filterbank, and including silicon cochleae: feature (auditory landmark) based systems are considered. The level of performance associated with animal auditory systems has not been achieved, and we discuss ways forward.