Latency Masking for Synchronized Audiovisual Collaboration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies face challenges in managing communication latencies and disseminating audiovisual content from geographically distributed performers in real-time, making it difficult to create an immersive live interactive collaboration experience across significant distances.
Innovation Solution
The technique involves masking network communication latency in one direction and tolerating it in the other, allowing for synchronized audiovisual performances to be broadcast as if they are happening in real-time, with optional pitch correction and harmonization, using peer-to-peer connections and content servers to manage and mix audiovisual content from multiple contributors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If audiovisual content is transmitted across wide-area networks between geographically distributed performers, then collaboration reach and accessibility are improved, but network latency increases making real-time interaction difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the collaboration into local and remote components. Local performers interact in real-time with minimal latency, while remote performers are integrated through controlled latency management. The host device acts as an intermediary that segments the audio/video streams and manages timing separately for local and remote contributors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by capturing and buffering audiovisual content from remote performers before transmission. The host device receives, buffers, and pre-synchronizes remote streams to anticipate and compensate for network latency, allowing real-time interaction despite delayed transmission.
2Reliability
If latency masking techniques are applied to create synchronized broadcast, then real-time collaboration experience is improved, but complexity of latency management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The host device serves as an intermediary that centralizes latency management functions. It receives audiovisual streams from multiple remote performers, applies latency compensation, synchronizes timing, and mixes content before broadcast. This intermediary approach consolidates complexity in one device rather than requiring each participant to manage latency independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates synchronized copies of audiovisual content from multiple performers, applying timing adjustments to each copy based on their respective latencies. The host device generates a master synchronized version that combines these adjusted copies, allowing the broadcast to appear real-time even though individual streams have different delays.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple geographically distributed performers are coordinated in real-time, then collaborative performance capability is improved, but difficulty of coordinating timing and synchronization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the host device monitors the timing and synchronization status of incoming streams from multiple performers. It continuously adjusts latency compensation parameters based on measured delays, ensuring that all performers remain synchronized throughout the performance despite network variations.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques have been developed to facilitate the livestreaming of group audiovisual performances. Audiovisual performances including vocal music are captured and coordinated with performances of other users in ways that can create compelling user and listener experiences. For example, in some cases or embodiments, duets with a host performer may be supported in a sing-with-the-artist style audiovisual livestream in which aspiring vocalists request or queue particular songs for a live radio show entertainment format. The developed techniques provide a communications latency-tolerant mechanism for synchronizing vocal performances captured at geographically-separated devices (e.g., at globally-distributed, but network-connected mobile phones or tablets or at audiovisual capture devices geographically separated from a live studio).