IntroductionThe human auditory system is incredibly precise at identifying signal content, location, and meaning through discrete neurological processes. The precision of these processes begins at the level of the external anatomical parts of the auditory pathway: the pinna and the ear canal. The pinna serves to collect sound from the environment and generate direction-dependent signals through spectral transformations (Hofman et al, 1998; Raykar et al, 2005). Sounds carried into the ear canal contain a range of amplified and attenuated frequencies. This interaction of complex sound waves, based on the unique shape of an individual's pinna, results in a transfer function used for localization in the vertical plane (Hofman et al, 1998, p. 417). There is evidence that the spectral notches and peaks formed when sound interacts with the pinna are a key element in sound localization in the vertical plane (Raykar et al, 2005, p. 364). The spectral changes caused by the reflection of sound waves off the unique curves of the horn are called “spectral patterns.” This mainly occurs in frequencies above 6 kHz, because the wavelength of the sound is short enough for it to interact with the pinna. This indicates that sound localization is influenced most by high frequencies (Moore, 2007, p. 186). Each individual ear is unique and provides frequency information that no other facet of the hearing pathway offers. The distinctive curvature and overall shape of the pinna helps shape complex signals to determine spatial information by integrating frequency transformations for both ears. Therefore, it is important to be able to receive the sound binaurally to accurately localize the signal in space and reduce ambiguity middle of paper......which will be used for the project. Works Cited Hofman, PM, Van Riswick, JG and Van Opstal, AJ (1998). Relearn sound localization with new ears. Natural Neuroscience, 1(5), 417-421. Hone, R. (2010). Pinna augmentation and hearing gain. Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 143(2), P243.Kuk, F., Korhonen, P., Lau, C., Keenan, D. and Norgaard, M. (2013). Evaluation of a pinna compensation algorithm for sound localization and speech perception in noise. American Journal of Audiology, 22(1), 84-93. Moore, Brian CJ (2007). Cochlear hearing loss: physiological, psychological and technical problems. England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Raykar, V.C., Duraiswami, R. and Yegnanarayana, B. (2005). Extraction of pinna spectral notch frequencies in measured head-related impulse responses. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(1), 364-374.