Auditory Origin Synthesis for Immersive Spatial Audio
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to accurately synthesize shifting auditory origin points in virtual environments, leading to a breakdown in audio-visual correlation as users move within these spaces, especially in three-dimensional scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to create a virtual auditory origin point between multiple ambisonic capture points, using tracking data to dynamically update the position of a hallucinated loudspeaker or microphone array, allowing for accurate spatial audio rendering based on user movement, enabling 6 degrees of freedom in immersive media applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single ambisonic audio origin source is used to capture a sound field, then the system is simple to implement, but audio-visual correlation breaks down when the user moves in three-dimensional space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the audio capture system into multiple ambisonic microphone arrays positioned at different spatial locations. Each array captures the sound field from its specific origin point, creating multiple discrete audio sources that can be independently processed and combined to maintain accurate spatial audio-visual correlation as the user moves through three-dimensional space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual auditory origin point as an intermediary construct that does not physically exist but is synthesized through signal processing. This virtual origin point is calculated based on the user's position and orientation relative to multiple physical capture points, allowing the system to maintain accurate spatial audio representation without requiring a physical microphone at every possible user location.
2Measurement precision
If multiple physical microphone arrays are deployed to maintain audio-visual correlation across 3D space, then spatial audio accuracy improves, but the quantity of hardware increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of microphone arrays through signal processing techniques. Instead of deploying physical microphones at every possible user position, the system processes signals from existing physical arrays to synthesize virtual microphone positions and virtual auditory origin points, accurately representing sounds from any location in three-dimensional space without multiplying physical hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from thinking about audio capture in terms of physical microphone locations to thinking about it in terms of virtual auditory origin points in three-dimensional space. By introducing the dimension of virtual spatial positioning, the system can accurately represent sounds from any location without being constrained by the physical arrangement of microphones, effectively solving the problem with a higher-dimensional approach.
Data Source
AI summary
Each of a plurality of virtual loudspeaker arrays and their channels are produced, based on a corresponding microphone array and microphone signals thereof. Channels of a hallucinated loudspeaker array are determined based on the channels of the plurality of virtual loudspeaker arrays. The plurality of virtual loudspeaker arrays and the hallucinated loudspeaker array share a common geometry and orientation. Spatial audio is rendered based on the channels of the hallucinated loudspeaker array.