Dual-Listener Spatial Audio Rendering for Mixed Reality Immersion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional audio systems in mixed reality environments struggle to create a compelling, realistic, and immersive experience due to limitations in presenting virtual environments, leading to issues like motion sickness, disorientation, high computational burden, and inability to utilize real-world sensory data.
Innovation Solution
A method for presenting stereo audio signals in a mixed reality environment by identifying ear listener positions, virtual sound sources, and objects, and determining audio signals to simulate a 3D soundscape using a 3D propagation model, allowing users to identify sound source positions and orientations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If VR systems present a full 3D virtual environment to replace the user's real environment, then immersion is improved, but computational burden and storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio environment into discrete sound sources with specific spatial coordinates, allowing the system to process and render only relevant audio elements rather than computing a complete 3D virtual environment. This reduces computational burden while maintaining immersion through spatially accurate audio presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses audio signals as simplified copies or representations of the virtual environment's acoustic properties, rather than rendering the entire 3D environment. By presenting spatially encoded audio signals that mimic real-world sound propagation, the system achieves immersion with reduced computational requirements.
2Reliability
If VR systems block out the real environment to present a virtual environment, then immersion is improved, but users experience motion sickness and disorientation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges real-world audio signals with spatially encoded virtual audio signals, allowing users to perceive both real and virtual environmental sounds simultaneously. This combination maintains immersion from the virtual environment while preserving connection to the real environment, reducing motion sickness and disorientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses spatially encoded audio signals as an intermediary that bridges the real and virtual environments. The audio presentation provides cues about virtual object positions while maintaining awareness of the real environment, serving as a mediator that reduces the harmful effects of complete environmental replacement.
3Device complexity
If conventional audio systems are used in mixed reality, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to create realistic and immersive experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds spatial dimensionality to conventional audio systems by encoding positional information (x, y, z coordinates) into audio signals. This allows standard audio hardware to present realistic 3D spatial audio experiences without requiring complex specialized equipment, achieving realism while maintaining relative system simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies audio signal parameters (position, orientation, distance) to create realistic spatial audio effects. By changing these parameters dynamically based on user position and virtual object locations, the system achieves immersive realism using relatively simple audio processing techniques.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of presenting audio comprises: identifying a first ear listener position and a second ear listener position in a mixed reality environment; identifying a first virtual sound source in the mixed reality environment; identifying a first object in the mixed reality environment; determining a first audio signal in the mixed reality environment, wherein the first audio signal originates at the first virtual sound source and intersects the first ear listener position; determining a second audio signal in the mixed reality environment, wherein the second audio signal originates at the first virtual sound source, intersects the first object, and intersects the second ear listener position; determining a third audio signal based on the second audio signal and the first object; presenting, to a first ear of a user, the first audio signal; and presenting, to a second ear of the user, the third audio signal.