Live Event Audio Personalization Through Dynamic Microphone Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media distribution systems for live events, such as sporting events, do not provide personalized audio experiences to users, as the audio from participants is often selected by editors and producers and not live, and fans at home or in different locations cannot enjoy the same immersive audio experience as those sitting close to the action, with no mechanism to replicate the audio environment from other seats or locations.
Innovation Solution
A system that determines a particular portion of interest at a live event based on user input, identifies relevant microphones, and generates audio for output, allowing users to experience personalized audio in real-time, replicating the audio from specific locations or entities within the event, such as athletes or objects, using a combination of microphones and potentially augmented reality technology.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed set of microphones is used for all viewers, then the system complexity is reduced, but the audio experience cannot be personalized for different users or locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically selects which microphones to activate based on the user's selected seat location and the current state of the live event. Instead of a fixed microphone configuration, the system adapts the audio feed in real-time by enabling different subsets of microphones corresponding to different portions of interest, allowing personalization without requiring a separate physical system for each user.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio system is segmented into multiple independent microphone feeds, each corresponding to a specific portion of the live event (e.g., different seats, players, or locations). This segmentation allows the system to select and combine specific microphone feeds based on user preferences, enabling personalized audio experiences while managing complexity through modular organization of audio sources.
2Reliability
If microphones are placed at all possible locations, then complete audio coverage is achieved, but the system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The microphone matrix is designed with multi-functionality in mind, where each microphone can serve multiple purposes depending on the selected configuration. The same physical microphones can be assigned to different portions of interest for different users or at different times. This universal approach allows complete audio coverage to be achieved through software configuration rather than requiring dedicated microphones for every possible user scenario, reducing overall system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If audio is processed in real-time for each user, then personalized audio experience is provided, but the processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary organization of microphone feeds into predefined portions of interest before real-time user selection. Microphones are pre-grouped and associated with specific locations, players, or event segments, so that when a user selects a preference, the system can quickly assemble the appropriate audio feed without requiring complex real-time analysis. This preliminary structuring enables fast, low-latency personalized audio delivery.
4Ease of operation
If the same audio feed is provided to all viewers, then the system is simple to operate, but fans at different locations cannot experience the audio environment of their desired seats
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates virtual copies of different audio environments by routing selected microphone feeds to individual users based on their preferences. Instead of physically placing users at different locations, the system copies and transmits the audio experience from desired seats or locations to each user's device. This copying approach maintains simple operation through automated selection while providing location-based audio experiences to multiple users simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods and apparatuses are described herein for receiving user input via a user interface; determining, based on the received user input, a particular portion of interest corresponding to a location at a live event; identifying one or more microphones in a vicinity of the location corresponding to the particular portion of interest at the live event; and causing audio detected by the one or more microphones to be generated for output.