Virtual Meeting Audio Segmentation for Private Side Conversations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern virtual-meeting systems lack the ability to enable private communications among participants without disrupting the main conference, and there is a need to inform participants about the possibility of holding private communications and suggest suitable participants for such interactions.
Innovation Solution
A virtual-meeting system that allows a subset of participants to engage in private communications by modifying the audio data streams and spatial locations within a two- or three-dimensional audio scene, using head-tracking and gesture-control technology to initiate and manage these private communications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If all participants in a virtual meeting can hear every other non-muted participant, then communication transparency is improved, but privacy of individual conversations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio communication stream into multiple paths: a main conference path audible to all participants and a private communication path audible only to selected participants. This segmentation allows simultaneous transparency for the main conference while preserving privacy for side conversations through spatial audio separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial dimension to audio communication by implementing a two- or three-dimensional audio scene where participants are positioned at different locations. Private communications are spatially separated from the main conference, allowing participants to distinguish between different conversation types through spatial cues rather than requiring separate audio channels.
2Reliability
If a separate media path is created for private communication, then privacy is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the private communication functionality into the existing virtual meeting system by utilizing the same audio scene and spatial positioning infrastructure. Rather than creating entirely separate communication channels, the system combines private and main conference communications within a unified spatial audio framework, reducing the need for additional complex infrastructure.
3Ease of operation
If spatial audio cues are used to distinguish private and main meeting audio, then ease of operation is improved, but difficulty of detecting and measuring deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically manages spatial positioning and audio scene configuration without requiring manual user intervention. The virtual meeting system itself performs the complex tasks of determining participant positions, configuring audio paths, and managing spatial separation, while users simply benefit from the enhanced auditory experience through their existing audio devices.
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatus comprising an interface for receiving a respective uplink data stream from each of three or more further apparatuses, and for transmitting a respective downlink data stream to each of the further apparatuses; and a logic system in communication with the interface. The logic system is configured: to receive first data in the uplink data stream received from a first one of the further apparatuses; and in a first mode, to include at least some of the first data in the respective downlink data streams transmitted to every other one of the further apparatuses, or, in a second mode, to include at least some of the first data in the downlink data stream transmitted to a second one of the further apparatuses and to omit or attenuate substantially all of the first data in the downlink data stream transmitted to at least a third one of the further apparatuses. Corresponding methods and computer readable media are disclosed.