Voxel-Based Audio Simulation for Real-Time Directional Sound
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for simulating realistic sound in media environments, such as video games, are computationally complex and require significant resources, often omitting essential audio effects like occlusion, reflections, and diffractions due to long computation times, making them unsuitable for interactive applications.
Innovation Solution
A voxel-based representation of the 3D media environment is used to efficiently calculate audio paths and adjust sound propagation, accounting for obstructions and reverberation, allowing for real-time acoustic adjustments and realistic sound simulation with reduced computational complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional methods are used to simulate realistic sound with occlusion, reflections, and diffractions, then audio realism is improved, but computation time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates acoustic properties (occlusion, reflections, diffractions) for all possible source-listener pairs before runtime. These pre-computed values are stored in lookup tables, allowing the system to retrieve pre-determined acoustic effects during gameplay without performing complex calculations in real-time, thus achieving both audio realism and acceptable performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the 3D environment into discrete voxels and segments the acoustic simulation into separate calculable components (direct sound, occlusion, reflections, diffractions). Each component is calculated and stored independently in lookup tables, allowing efficient combination during runtime without recalculating the entire acoustic model
2Device complexity
If hard coding is used for specific sound environments, then audio simulation is simplified, but adaptability to changes and new environments is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal acoustic simulation system that automatically adapts to any 3D environment by voxelizing the geometry and performing ray-tracing calculations. The system uses general algorithms rather than environment-specific hardcoding, allowing it to handle diverse scenarios (indoor, outdoor, urban, rural) through the same computational framework, with results stored in environment-specific lookup tables
3Measurement precision
If full acoustic simulation is performed in real-time, then audio accuracy is improved, but processing power and memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs computationally intensive acoustic calculations offline before runtime, storing results in pre-computed lookup tables. During real-time gameplay, the system only needs to query these tables based on current source and listener positions, dramatically reducing processing power requirements while maintaining high audio accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified voxel-based representations (copies) of the actual 3D environment geometry. These voxel copies are sufficient for acoustic calculations and can be stored efficiently, allowing the system to perform accurate simulations without needing to process the full complexity of the original environment models
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for providing directional audio in a computer environment includes recognizing a location of a listener in the computer environment, recognizing a location of a sound emitter in the computer environment, and recognizing a plurality of candidate portal points in the computer environment. Each candidate portal point provides a viable audio path from the location of the sound emitter to the location of the listener. The method further includes identifying a selected portal point from among the plurality of candidate portal points based at least on a first distance from the selected portal point to the location of the listener and a second distance from the selected portal point to the location of the sound emitter and setting a perceived direction of the sound emitter to go through a location of the selected portal point.