Web Audio Evaluation Tool: A browser-based listening test environment

Abstract

Perceptual evaluation tests where subjects assess certain qualities of different audio fragments are an integral part of audio and music research. These require specialised software, usually custom-made, to collect large amounts of data using meticulously designed interfaces with carefully formulated questions, and play back audio with rapid switching between different samples. New functionality in HTML5 included in the Web Audio API allows for increasingly powerful media applications in a platform independent environment. The advantage of a web application is easy deployment on any platform, without requiring any other application, enabling multiple tests to be easily conducted across locations. In this paper we propose a tool supporting a wide variety of easily configurable, multi-stimulus perceptual audio evaluation tests over the web with multiple test interfaces, pre- and post-test surveys, custom configuration, collection of test metrics and other features. Test design and setup doesn’t require programming background, and results are gathered automatically using web friendly formats for easy storing of results on a server.