Spatially Bounded Audio Rendering With Interior–Exterior Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spatial audio rendering technologies fail to provide a spatially consistent and meaningful audio experience when a listener moves between the interior and exterior of spatially-bounded audio elements in VR, AR, and MR environments, leading to spatial distortions and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for audio rendering that derive an exterior representation from a listener-centric interior representation using metadata and downmixing techniques, ensuring a smooth transition between interior and exterior representations, and maintaining spatially consistent and meaningful audio experiences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single listener-centric audio representation is used for spatially-bounded audio elements, then the audio experience is consistent inside the spatial region, but spatial distortions occur when the listener moves outside the spatial region
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the audio representation into two distinct segments: an interior representation valid within the spatial region and an exterior representation valid outside the spatial region. This segmentation allows each representation to be optimized for its specific spatial context, eliminating spatial distortions when the listener moves between regions while maintaining consistency within each region.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic switching between interior and exterior representations based on the listener's position relative to the spatial region. The system continuously monitors listener position and transitions between representations accordingly, ensuring spatial consistency is maintained regardless of whether the listener is inside or outside the bounded audio element.
2Reliability
If separate interior and exterior representations are used for spatially-bounded audio elements, then spatial consistency is maintained across different listening positions, but the system complexity and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent prepares both interior and exterior representations in advance, encoding them into the audio data structure before playback. This preliminary action allows the rendering system to simply switch between pre-computed representations based on listener position, rather than performing complex real-time conversions, thereby reducing computational overhead during actual audio rendering.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial region definition (metadata describing the bounded space) as an intermediary that mediates between the audio representations and the listener's position. This intermediary structure organizes the relationship between interior and exterior representations, simplifying the management complexity by providing a clear spatial reference frame for switching decisions.
3Productivity
If traditional spatial audio rendering is used without interior-exterior differentiation, then the system is computationally efficient, but the audio experience becomes spatially distorted when listeners move between interior and exterior of audio elements
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the audio representation into interior and exterior components, the patent enables efficient rendering within each segment while maintaining spatial accuracy across segment boundaries. The segmentation allows the system to use optimized rendering paths for each region type without requiring full re-computation when transitioning between regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic representation selection that adapts to the listener's spatial context. This dynamic approach maintains high rendering efficiency by selecting the appropriate pre-computed representation (interior or exterior) based on listener position, rather than performing expensive real-time spatial transformations, while still preserving spatial accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of audio rendering. The method comprising: receiving an interior representation of an audio element, wherein the interior representation is valid within a spatial region, and the interior representation of the audio element is in a listener-centric format; then receiving information indicating the spatial region; then using the interior representation to derive audio signals for an exterior representation of the audio element; and rendering the audio element using the derived audio signals for the exterior representation of the audio element.