Spatial Audio Conversation Channel for Headworn Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conversing in noisy environments is challenging due to difficulty in hearing and understanding another person, even with existing transparency functions in headphones that use beamforming signal processing.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a more immersive transparency function with spatialized audio conversation channels, utilizing a digital processor in headphones to receive opt-in indications, process microphone array outputs, and perform spatial audio rendering, including the use of metadata for accurate sound direction and dynamic range adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If beamforming signal processing is used to focus sound pickup in the forward direction, then the ability to hear the other talker is improved, but the listening effort remains high and the conversation experience is not fully immersive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from conventional mono or stereo audio reproduction to spatial audio with full directional information. By incorporating elevation and azimuth data to create three-dimensional sound positioning, the system provides more immersive audio experience and reduces listening effort while maintaining accurate sound direction perception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts audio parameters including volume, pan position, and spatial characteristics based on the relative positions of wearers and talkers. This adaptive parameter adjustment optimizes the audio mix in real-time, making conversation more effortless while preserving directional accuracy.
2Reliability
If transparency function is used to reproduce ambient sounds, then the wearer can hear the other person, but the noisy ambient environment still interferes with understanding
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different signal processing treatments to different spatial zones. Sounds from the direction of the talker receive enhanced processing with improved clarity and noise suppression, while ambient noises from other directions are selectively attenuated. This localized quality enhancement improves conversation clarity without completely blocking out the ambient environment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If spatial audio rendering is implemented with multiple talkers, then the immersive experience is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio processing into distinct functional modules: spatial position detection, sound source identification, directional audio rendering, and dynamic mix adjustment. Each module handles specific aspects of multi-talker spatial audio, making the overall complex system more manageable and implementable through modular processing stages.
Data Source
AI summary
An opt-in indication is received that a wearer of a headworn device joins a conversation channel having a first target audio signal that contains an isolated voice of a first talker. In response, the first target audio signal is spatially rendered into a left speaker driver signal and a right speaker driver signal that are to drive a left speaker and a right speaker, respectively, of a first audio system. Other aspects are also described and claimed.