Multi-layer Audio Stack for Spatial Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
In environments with multiple competing audio sources, such as virtual reality or mixed reality technologies, users experience desensitization and confusion due to the overwhelming number of sounds, reducing the effectiveness of applications and devices.
Innovation Solution
A system that prioritizes and presents audio from multiple sources using a vertically distributed multi-layer audio stack, where audio data with higher priority is rendered at a central layer, and lower-priority data is rendered at upper or lower layers, allowing users to focus on the central layer while being aware of background sounds, and enabling smooth shifting between layers to change focus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple audio sources are presented simultaneously to the user, then the system provides comprehensive information from various sources, but the user experiences desensitization and confusion due to overwhelming sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The audio output is segmented into multiple priority layers (first priority, second priority, third priority) instead of presenting all audio sources uniformly. Each layer corresponds to different spatial regions, allowing the system to deliver comprehensive information while organizing it by importance to prevent user overload.
Solution Approach 2:
Different spatial regions are assigned different audio priorities and characteristics. The central region (first priority) provides clear, focused audio, while peripheral regions (second and third priority) provide background or less important audio with reduced intensity, creating local quality variations that guide user attention.
2Device complexity
If all audio sources are rendered with equal priority, then the system maintains simplicity in audio management, but the user cannot distinguish important audio signals from background sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The audio system dynamically adjusts the priority and spatial positioning of different audio sources based on their importance. Rather than static equal-priority rendering, the system continuously manages audio layers with varying priorities, allowing important signals to stand out while maintaining manageable complexity through automated priority assignment.
3Ease of operation
If the system renders audio in a single spatial region, then the audio delivery is straightforward and simple, but the user experiences cognitive load and difficulty focusing on specific audio sources
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from two-dimensional stereo audio to three-dimensional spatial audio by introducing vertical elevation and radial distance dimensions. Audio sources are positioned in different spatial regions (central, upper, lower, left, right) creating a multi-layered soundscape that naturally guides user focus without requiring complex user intervention.
4Reliability
If the system provides detailed spatial audio distribution across multiple layers, then the user can focus on important audio while being aware of background sounds, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The audio system automatically manages the multi-layer spatial distribution without requiring manual configuration. The system self-adjusts audio priorities, spatial positions, and layer assignments based on predefined rules and audio source characteristics, reducing the operational complexity despite the sophisticated multi-layer architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for enabling spatial delivery of multi-source audio data to a user based on a multi-layer audio stack is provided. The multi-layer audio stack includes a central layer located within a predetermined vertical distance from a reference line associated with the user, such as the horizon line of the user. The multi-layer audio stack can also include an upper layer located above the central layer and/or a lower layer located below the central layer. Audio data from multiple sources are collected and prioritized based on context data gathered for the user. Audio data on which the user would like to focus is assigned the highest priority and delivered on the central layer. Audio data that the user does not currently focus on, but would like to visit next, can be assigned a lower priority and be delivered in the upper layer or the lower layer. The user can shift the multi-layer audio stack up or down to navigate through the audio data rendered at different layers of the stack.