Mr. Anthony Tew BSc, CEng, MIET, MIEEE, AMAES, MIPEM
Senior Lecturer
Email: tony.tew@york.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1904 32 2358
Fax: +44 (0)1904 32 2335
Research Area: Audio Lab
Areas of Expertise: Acoustic Modelling, Binaural Audio, Signal Processing: Audio, Spatial Audio
Biography
Tony spent the first 11 years of his career working in industry. During this period he held research and development posts in the telecommunications sector, where he designed components of the public switched telephone network. For six years he was chief electronics designer in a small company manufacturing assistive technology for people with severe disabilities. From there he moved to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford where, as part of the Engineering Department at the University, he became a design engineer within a multidisciplinary research team whose activities included gait analysis, orthotic device development and compliance monitoring and fracture healing measurement. He also designed assistive technology to provide independent mobility for people with very limited voluntary movements.
Tony’s interest in binaural signal processing research began with his move to York, where he has also developed a love of teaching at all levels. His experience in communications and assistive device technologies first led him to investigate algorithms for hearing aids using binaural cues and this has developed into a co-ordinated programme of binaural research thanks to contributions over the years from many excellent students and colleagues. He has extensively investigated the measurement and use of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) for the individualisation of binaural spatial audio signals, such as techniques for their interpolation and their rapid measurement from head shape. The work on HRTF synthesis from morphological measure continues in the form of an international collaboration with the University of Sydney. Some fascinating perceptual aspects of spatial audio are being explored in a project jointly funded by the University and a collaborating industrial partner in which we are investigating auditory and other influences on the realism of binaural audio.
Research interests
Binaural audio signal processing, binaural psychoacoustics, acoustic modelling, applied spatial hearing, perceptual listening tests, binaurally-informed digital hearing aids.
Professional activities
These mainly revolve around my interests in learning and teaching. For example, I am a member of the University Forum for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, University Teaching Committee, the University Public Lectures Committee, the Science and Society working group, and Chair of the University Learning and Teaching Projects Committee.
Current Project Areas
- Non-acoustical methods for estimating head-related impulse responses rapidly from head and ear shape;
- Understanding how spatial information is impressed on sounds reaching the eardrum;
- Factors affecting the realism of binaural audio;
- Transformation of binaural signals using psychoacoustically-informed signal processing.