Virtual Audio Source Mapping for Real-Time Room Reflections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining virtual audio source positions for reflections in a room are computationally complex and resource-demanding, limiting the accuracy and quality of the audio experience in virtual reality applications.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for determining virtual audio source positions by generating a set of mirror rooms through successive mirrorings around room boundaries, using a mapping matrix to efficiently calculate position offsets, reducing computational complexity and resource requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional methods for determining virtual audio source positions are used, then accuracy of audio reflection modeling is improved, but computational complexity and resource requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the room into multiple mirror rooms by reflecting the original room across its boundaries. Each mirror room contains virtual audio sources that represent reflections of the original audio sources. This segmentation allows the complex task of modeling all reflections to be broken down into manageable mirror room units, each processed independently through the mapping matrix approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mapping matrix that transforms position parameters from the original room coordinate system to the mirror room coordinate system. By using this parameter transformation, the system can efficiently calculate virtual audio source positions in mirror rooms without performing complex geometric calculations for each reflection path, thereby reducing computational complexity while maintaining accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If traditional methods for determining virtual audio source positions are used, then accuracy of audio reflection modeling is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating the mapping matrix that relates the original room coordinate system to the mirror room coordinate system. This mapping matrix can be computed once based on the room geometry and then reused for calculating virtual audio source positions of multiple audio sources and at different time steps, significantly reducing processing time during dynamic audio rendering.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates mirror rooms that are copies of the original room reflected across its boundaries. These mirror rooms contain virtual audio sources that are copies of the original audio sources. By working with these copies in the mirror room coordinate system, the system can efficiently model reflections without re-computing complex geometric relationships for each reflection path.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic adaptation to audio source movements is implemented, then realism of audio experience is improved, but computational burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by allowing audio sources to move within the original room while maintaining their corresponding virtual images in the mirror rooms. The mapping matrix enables the system to dynamically update virtual audio source positions in mirror rooms as audio sources move in the original room, providing dynamic adaptation to audio source movements without requiring re-computation of reflection paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes complex mechanical geometric calculations for a more efficient linear algebra-based approach using mapping matrices. Instead of performing complex ray-tracing or image-source method calculations for each audio source movement, the system uses the pre-computed mapping matrix to transform positions, which is computationally much lighter and enables real-time dynamic adaptation.
Data Source
AI summary
An acoustic image source model for early reflections in a room is generated by iteratively mirroring (305) rooms around boundaries (e.g. walls) of rooms of the previous iteration. Determination of mirror positions in the image rooms for an audio source in the original room is performed by determining (605, 607) matching reference positions in the two rooms and a relative mapping of directions between the two rooms (611). A mirror position in the mirror room from an audio source in the original room is determined (701, 703, 705) by mapping relative offsets between the positions of the audio source and the reference positions. The approach may provide a computationally very efficient approach.