Virtual Loudspeaker Placement for Spatial Audio Extent Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for spatial audio rendering struggle to accurately represent spatially-heterogeneous audio elements with varying extents, often resulting in psychoacoustical holes and high complexity when using a limited number of virtual loudspeakers, especially when the listener moves freely in XR environments.
Innovation Solution
Adaptive placement of virtual loudspeakers, including a middle speaker positioned based on the listener's location relative to the audio element's extent, using factors to optimize speaker positioning and attenuation to maintain even audio distribution and avoid psychoacoustical holes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If audio elements with spatial extent are rendered using conventional techniques, then audio elements can be presented in a three-dimensional space, but the audio elements cannot be accurately positioned and oriented relative to each other and to the listener
Solution Approach 1:
The audio element is divided into multiple audio samples corresponding to different spatial locations and orientations. Each sample is associated with specific spatial parameters (position, orientation, inter-aural time difference, inter-aural level difference), allowing precise control over the perceived location of audio information in the three-dimensional space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends conventional two-dimensional audio rendering by adding spatial extent dimensions. Audio elements are represented not just at a single point but with defined spatial boundaries and orientations in three-dimensional space, enabling accurate positioning and orientation relative to the listener through multiple audio samples distributed across different spatial locations.
2Measurement precision
If multiple audio samples are used to represent spatial extent, then positioning accuracy improves, but the amount of audio data and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The audio element is segmented into multiple discrete audio samples, each corresponding to a specific spatial location and orientation. This segmentation allows the system to represent complex spatial information using a manageable number of simplified audio components, each with well-defined spatial parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
Different audio samples are assigned different spatial qualities based on their specific positions and orientations. The system varies parameters such as inter-aural time difference and inter-aural level difference for each sample to create locally optimized spatial representation, improving orientation accuracy without uniformly increasing data quantity across all spatial regions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for rendering an audio element (e.g., a spatially-heterogeneous audio element), wherein the audio element has an extent and is represented using a set of virtual loudspeakers comprising a middle virtual loudspeaker. The method includes, based on a position of a listener, selecting a position for the middle virtual loudspeaker and/or calculating an attenuation factor for the middle virtual loudspeaker.