hrtf-rendering-validation-lab

name	hrtf-rendering-validation-lab
description	Build and validate deterministic HRTF rendering lanes spanning offline SOFA truth renders, realtime partitioned convolution behavior, interpolation/crossfade safety, and parity evidence for BL-055/BL-061.

Title: HRTF Rendering Validation Lab Skill Document Type: Skill Author: APC Codex Created Date: 2026-03-01 Last Modified Date: 2026-03-01

HRTF Rendering Validation Lab

Use this skill when validating HRTF render correctness across offline and realtime paths.

Scope

• Offline SOFA truth-render workflows and deterministic repeatability.
• Realtime FIR/partitioned convolution validation and latency contracts.
• Crossfade behavior during profile or direction updates (no zipper/click artifacts).
• Parity checks between baseline nearest-neighbor and interpolation paths.

Workflow

1. Establish offline truth first.
   • Freeze input signal, pose timeline, and SOFA selection.
   • Generate deterministic stereo output artifact(s).
2. Validate realtime rendering contract.
   • Confirm latency/reporting path.
   • Confirm no RT allocation, lock, or blocking I/O in audio path.
3. Validate transition safety.
   • Exercise profile/direction swaps and measure artifact-free crossfades.
4. Run parity checks.
   • Compare offline and realtime summary metrics for equivalent scenarios.
   • Compare interpolation path vs nearest-neighbor baseline.
5. Publish evidence packet and gate decision.

Required Evidence

• status.tsv
• latency_contract.tsv
• crossfade_artifact_check.tsv
• offline_parity_summary.md
• mode_parity.tsv

Cross-Skill Routing

• Pair with spatial-audio-engineering for renderer architecture and channel/coordinate contracts.
• Pair with steam-audio-capi when Steam fallback/requested-vs-active behavior is involved.
• Pair with skill_testing for replay-tier execution and taxonomy reporting.

References

• references/offline-truth-lane.md
• references/realtime-convolver-contract.md
• references/parity-and-crossfade-gates.md

Deliverables

• File-level change list and rationale.
• Explicit pass/fail matrix for latency/parity/crossfade gates.
• Validation status: tested, partially tested, or not tested.