Virtual Conference Spatial Audio Awareness for Private Conversations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional videoconferencing technologies lack the ability to provide a sense of presence and privacy, leading to issues such as loss of social interaction, difficulty in determining who can hear a speaker, and potential security vulnerabilities in audio stream transmission.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilizes a three-dimensional virtual space with avatars, determining sound volumes based on relative positions, and providing visual notifications to the speaker about who can hear them, while selectively transmitting audio streams to relevant participants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If audio streams are transmitted to all participants in a virtual conference, then everyone can hear the speaker, but security vulnerabilities arise and bandwidth is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements spatial audio transmission where audio streams are selectively transmitted to participants based on their virtual position relative to the speaker. Only participants within a certain virtual distance or direction receive the audio stream, creating localized audio zones. This resolves the contradiction by ensuring security (only relevant participants receive audio) and reducing bandwidth waste (audio not transmitted to all participants).
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-determines which participants should receive audio streams based on their virtual positions before transmission occurs. The server calculates spatial relationships and prepares targeted audio transmission lists in advance, preventing unnecessary audio transmission and reducing security risks from unauthorized listening.
2Ease of operation
If conventional videoconferencing mixes audio streams equally from multiple speakers, then all participants hear all speakers, but private conversations become impossible and social connections are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates localized audio zones in the virtual space where only participants within certain virtual proximity can hear each other. This enables private conversations between nearby participants while maintaining the ability for public announcements from central speakers, restoring the social nuance of selective communication that was lost in conventional equal-mix videoconferencing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces spatial positioning as a new dimension for audio transmission control. By adding virtual position, direction, and distance parameters to the audio mixing system, it enables nuanced control over who hears what, allowing both private side conversations and public addresses to coexist in the same virtual conference space.
3Loss of information
If a speaker's view is limited by the virtual camera viewpoint, then the speaker sees only what the camera captures, but they cannot sense the presence of users outside the viewpoint
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides visual feedback to the speaker about participants in their virtual vicinity. By analyzing virtual positions and rendering indicators showing who is near the speaker, the system compensates for the limited camera viewpoint and restores the speaker's awareness of surrounding participants, enabling better social interaction despite the restricted visual field.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a computer-implemented method, system, device, and computer program product for providing awareness of who are able to hear audio in a virtual conference. For each of the users in the virtual conference, a device of the speaking user or a server determines whether a respective user is able to hear the speaking user based on whether a respective sound volume at which the respective user is able hear the speaking user exceeds a threshold amount. The speaking user's device or the server outputs a notification indicating the users that are able to hear the speaking user.