Head-Mounted Display Audio Switching for VR Immersion and MR Awareness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sound output devices, such as NC earphones, fail to provide adjustable sound levels for both virtual and real-world environments in mixed reality applications, necessitating manual user intervention to switch between immersive VR and interactive MR modes.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus that adjusts relative sound levels of external and virtual sounds based on real and virtual images, automatically switching between immersive VR and interactive MR modes by using a sound combination unit to control noise cancellation and sound mixing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If noise cancellation is applied to cut off external sound for immersive VR experience, then immersion in virtual reality is improved, but ability to hear real-world sound deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the noise cancellation level based on detected speech patterns in the environment. When speech is detected, the noise cancellation is reduced or disabled to allow external sound through. When no speech is detected, full noise cancellation is applied for immersive VR experience. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the system flexible rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from speech detection algorithms to control the noise cancellation level. The speech detection continuously monitors the environment and provides feedback to the audio processing system, which then adjusts the noise cancellation accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the system to automatically respond to environmental conditions and resolve the immersion versus awareness contradiction.
2Ease of operation
If manual switching between VR and MR modes is implemented, then control over sound environment is improved, but user operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic mode switching based on environmental speech detection without requiring user intervention. The speech detection algorithm automatically determines when to switch from immersive VR mode to interactive MR mode and vice versa. This self-service approach eliminates the need for manual user operations while maintaining appropriate sound environment control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the noise cancellation parameter automatically based on detected conditions rather than requiring manual user adjustment. When speech is detected, the noise cancellation parameter is automatically adjusted to allow external sound through. This automatic parameter change simplifies user interaction while maintaining control over the sound environment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If external sound is completely blocked for VR immersion, then virtual reality experience is improved, but responsiveness to real-world communication deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary speech detection and analysis to anticipate when external communication may be needed. By continuously monitoring for speech patterns before they become critical, the system can proactively adjust noise cancellation levels to ensure the user remains responsive to real-world communication while maintaining VR immersion when appropriate.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure obtains a real image of a real space, a virtual image, external sound in the real space, and virtual sound. The information processing apparatus then adjusts relative sound levels of the virtual sound and the external sound based on at least one of the obtained images.