Abstract: A video-conferencing system between participants located at distant sites, each site featuring a viewing screen. The viewing screen is a large screen of the projection, overhead projection, or direct projection type which has one or more viewing systems forming an image wall to simultaneously view all the distant participants within a space reproduced on the image wall formed by the screen. The system includes devices for each site that spatially distribute the sound to match the sound generated by each distant participant and the image of the participant projected on the screen at the site considered.

Abstract: A method for the simulation of the acoustical quality produced by a virtual sound source and for the localizing of this source with respect to one or more listeners, and one or more original sound sources. This method consists in: 1) fixing values of perceptual parameters defining the acoustical quality to be simulated and values of parameters defining the localization of a virtual source, 2) converting these values into a pulse response described by its energy distribution as a function of the time and the frequency, 3) carrying out a context compensation so as to take account of an existing room effect, 4) obtaining an artificial reverberation from elementary signals so as to achieve a virtual acoustic environment in real time and control the localizing of the virtual source. This method can be used to modify sound signals coming from a real source, or to create sound effects on recording media.

Abstract: The device comprises an echo cancelling circuit receiving a first signal and a second signal and a real echo between channels for producing a third signal containing the second signal and a difference between the real echo and the estimated echo. Detectors detect the echo difference and the second signal in the third signal when the level of the third signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. Circuits gain-control the adaptation in the adaptive filtration of the echo cancelling circuit in such a way as to modify the adaptation gain when the second signal is not detected and to prohibit all filtration modifications as long as the second signal is detected. For instance, for an acoustic echo in a telephone set, the echo is not processed when the third signal contains a local speech signal as second signal.