# Audio-Driven Reinforcement Learning for Head-Orientation in Naturalistic Environments

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.10048 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.10048/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in RL training of language and agent models, one of 15 directions in Deep reinforcement learning methods.
- Builds on 12 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Sep 2024.

## Placed in

- Deep reinforcement learning methods / [RL training of language and agent models](https://mlsanity.com/deeprl/rl-training-of-language-and-agent-models/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Continuous control with deep reinforcement learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1509.02971/) (2015)
- [A Brief Survey of Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.05866/) (2017)
- [Conv-TasNet: Surpassing Ideal Time-Frequency Magnitude Masking for Speech Separation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.07454/) (2018)
- [Target-driven Visual Navigation in Indoor Scenes using Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.05143/) (2016)
- [Quantifying Generalization in Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.02341/) (2018)
- [Pyroomacoustics: A Python package for audio room simulations and array processing algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.04196/) (2017)
- [A Review of Deep Learning Techniques for Speech Processing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.00359/) (2023)
- [Catch Me If You Hear Me: Audio-Visual Navigation in Complex Unmapped Environments with Moving Sounds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.14843/) (2021)
- [A Survey on Deep Reinforcement Learning for Audio-Based Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00240/) (2021)
- [A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach to Audio-Based Navigation in a Multi-Speaker Environment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.04488/) (2021)
- [A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for Audio-based Navigation and Audio Source Localization in Multi-speaker Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.12778/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Simulating Human Audiovisual Search Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.02790/) (2026)
- [GRAM: Spatial general-purpose audio representation models for real-world applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.00934/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Although deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approaches in audio signal processing have seen substantial progress in recent years, audio-driven DRL for tasks such as navigation, gaze control and head-orientation control in the context of human-robot interaction have received little attention. Here, we propose an audio-driven DRL framework in which we utilise deep Q-learning to develop an autonomous agent that orients towards a talker in the acoustic environment based on stereo speech recordings. Our results show that the agent learned to perform the task at a near perfect level when trained on speech segments in anechoic environments (that is, without reverberation). The presence of reverberation in naturalistic acoustic environments affected the agent's performance, although the agent still substantially outperformed a baseline, randomly acting agent. Finally, we quantified the degree of generalization of the proposed DRL approach across naturalistic acoustic environments. Our experiments revealed that policies learned by agents trained on medium or high reverb environments generalized to low reverb environments, but policies learned by agents trained on anechoic or low reverb environments did not generalize to medium or high reverb environments. Taken together, this study demonstrates the potential of audio-driven DRL for tasks such as head-orientation control and highlights the need for training strategies that enable robust generalization across environments for real-world audio-driven DRL applications.