Why is it the shape it is ? (the outside part I mean , not internally)
I mean, ears seem quite complex in design, lots of contouring, shaping, furrows, ridges and such - how does the way it is shaped affect how we hear things ?
Couldnt it just be a much simpler design and achieve pretty much the same thing ?
The shape of our outer ears, or pinnae came about for localizing sounds. The combined effects of the ridges plus the rest of the head, shoulders and upper torso cause scattering, delay and acoustic filtering of incoming sounds. Collectively, this is called Head-Related Transfer Funcion, or HRT.
As a side note, HRT has been fairly well conceptualized in mathematical formulas, which can then be translated into acoustic filters. These filters (signal processing) are what’s behind simulated/enhanced surround modes on many home theater systems.
If our ears were simply holes in the sides of our heads, we would be able to determine left-right location, but it would be more of a fully left/right, rather than somewhere between level of localization.
Thanks, I just wondered if more simple cone shapes would be almost as good, without all the contoured ridges - but then Nature puttem there for a reason I guess.
I read that the design of each individual ear is totally unique and could be used as an identification process in the future (bit like eye/palm scans that you see in movies - it just aint as glamorous to have 007 sticking his ear to some reading device !).