Spatial Audio Alignment in Video Conferencing Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
In existing telepresence systems, attendants at a local site experience position differences in the horizontal and vertical directions between the voice and image of remote site attendees during video conferences, leading to an inaccurate perception of the remote attendees' positions.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using two or more loudspeakers mounted at the top and bottom of a remote image presentation device to simulate the audio transmission path between the loudspeakers and the attendee at the local site through a predetermined algorithm, such as VBAP, ensuring that the audio signals align with the corresponding signal strength, thereby aligning the perceived position of the remote attendee's voice with their image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional loudspeaker placement is used (single location), then device complexity is reduced, but position accuracy of audio perception deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The single loudspeaker is segmented into multiple loudspeakers arranged in specific spatial patterns (e.g., left, right, front, back). This segmentation allows the system to represent different spatial directions of sound sources, enabling accurate positioning of remote attendees' voices in the horizontal and vertical directions while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular loudspeaker units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional single-point audio output to a distributed spatial audio system that utilizes three-dimensional space. By arranging loudspeakers in multiple dimensions (horizontal left-right, vertical front-back), the system creates immersive spatial audio positioning that matches the visual position of remote attendees on the display, resolving the position discrepancy issue.
2Reliability
If audio transmission path is not simulated, then system complexity is reduced, but audio-video synchronization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the spatial position of audio sources and adjusting the audio transmission paths accordingly. The predetermined algorithm processes audio signals and dynamically adjusts their transmission through the loudspeaker array to maintain synchronization with the visual position of remote attendees, ensuring consistent audio-video alignment throughout the conference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an audio processing algorithm as an intermediary between the audio source and the loudspeakers. This intermediary component simulates the audio transmission path by calculating and adjusting audio signals based on the spatial relationship between the remote attendee and the local display, thereby achieving accurate audio-video synchronization without requiring complex real-time processing at every stage.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an apparatus for playing audio of an attendant at a remote end and a remote video conference system are provided. The method includes: receiving audio of an attendant at a remote site; and by means of two or more loudspeakers mounted at a top and a bottom of a remote image presentation device at a local site, simulating an audio transmission path of the audio of the attendant at the remote site between the two or more loudspeakers and an attendant at the local site through a predetermined algorithm, where the simulating means that the audio transmission path is simulated between an image of the head of the attendant at the remote site displayed in the remote image presentation device, and the head of the attendant at the local site.