Virtual Positioning Patents (Class 381/310)
  • Publication number: 20140375531
    Abstract: A method of presenting the user with a picture from the screen of a smart phone or tablet at a wide angle of view, consisting in that fixing a smart phone or tablet on the head in front of user's eyes, mounting the smart phone screen in front of the user's eyes to the line of sight, providing an optical means for obtaining an image sharpness, displaying an image which is the one selected from the group consisting images, videos, virtual space, or other applications. A method of providing sound to each of the user's ears in a virtual reality application, consisting in that mounting stereo headphones on the user's head, calculating a sound level provided for each of the user's ears so as the sound propagated and attenuated in a real space with the corresponding position and orientation of the user in regard to the sound source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2013
    Publication date: December 25, 2014
    Inventors: Ray Latypov, Nurali Latypov, Alfred Latypov
  • Patent number: 8912929
    Abstract: Detection precision is improved by reducing a detection error of a change in position of a target. A correction value derivation apparatus is provided for deriving a correction value used in correction of a displacement amount derived based on an encoder signal indicating a change in position of a movable portion as a target. A displacement amount derivation unit is configured to derive a detected displacement amount of the movable portion based on the encoder signal. A displacement velocity derivation unit is configured to derive a detected displacement velocity based on the detected displacement amount derived by the displacement amount derivation unit. An average displacement velocity calculation unit is configured to calculate an average displacement velocity over a predetermined displacement range. A correction value derivation unit is configured to derive the correction value based on the detected displacement velocity and the average displacement velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masahiko Mizoguchi
  • Patent number: 8908873
    Abstract: An input multi-channel representation is converted into a different output multi-channel representation of a spatial audio signal, in that an intermediate representation of the spatial audio signal is derived, the intermediate representation having direction parameters indicating a direction of origin of a portion of the spatial audio signal; and in that the output multi-channel representation of the spatial audio signal is generated using the intermediate representation of the spatial audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.
    Inventors: Juergen Herre, Ville Pulkki
  • Patent number: 8903527
    Abstract: An acoustic apparatus and a method thereof in a mobile terminal are provided. More particularly, an apparatus and a method for establishing a multi-sound system that provides sounds of sense of reality by connecting with players existing in the neighborhood and reproducing channels of contents using a plurality of players when reproducing the contents including multi-sound channels are provided. The apparatus includes a control player, a server player, and a client player. The control player selects players that reproduce respective channels using information of the channels forming the multi-sound channel contents. The server player analyzes the contents to be reproduced by the players to provide the information regarding the channels to the control player. The client player reproduces the channels of the relevant contents under control of the control player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kyung-Hee Lee
  • Publication number: 20140348358
    Abstract: An audio enhancement system can provide spatial enhancement, low frequency enhancement, and/or high frequency enhancement for headphone audio. The spatial enhancement can increase the sense of spaciousness or stereo separation between left and right headphone channels. The low frequency enhancement can enhance bass frequencies that are unreproducible or attenuated in headphone speakers by emphasizing harmonics of the low bass frequencies. The high frequency enhancement can emphasize higher frequencies that may be less reproducible or poorly tuned for headphone speakers. In some implementations, the audio enhancement system provides a user interface that enables a user to control the amount (e.g., gains) of each enhancement applied to headphone input signals. The audio enhancement system may also be designed to provide one or more of these enhancements more effectively when headphones with good coupling to the ear are used.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Inventor: Alan Kraemer
  • Patent number: 8885854
    Abstract: A decoding method, medium, and system decoding an input compressed multi-channel signal, as a mono or stereo signal, into 2-channel binaural signals. Channel signals making up the multi-channel signals may be reconstructed from the input compressed signal in the quadrature mirror filter (QMF) domain, and head related transfer functions (HRTFs) for localizing channel signals in the frequency domain, represented as values in the time domain, may be transformed into spatial parameters in the QMF domain. Accordingly, channel signals may be localized in the QMF domain in directions corresponding to the channels, thereby decoding the input compressed signal as 2-channel binaural signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sangchul Ko, Junghoe Kim
  • Patent number: 8879762
    Abstract: A method and apparatus to evaluate a quality of an audio signal, in which the number of effective channels is determined for each of a reference signal of a current frame and a test signal indicative of the reference signal that has passed through an audio codec, and an audio quality evaluation score of the current frame is calculated by evaluating an audio quality of the current frame based on the determined number of effective channels for each of the reference signal and the test signal by means of a predetermined evaluator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: In-Yong Choi
  • Patent number: 8873761
    Abstract: An audio signal processing device includes: head related transfer function convolution processing units convoluting head related transfer functions with audio signals of respective channels of plural channels, which allow the listener to listen to sound so that sound images are localized at assumed virtual sound image localization positions concerning respective channels of the plural channels of two or more channels when sound is reproduced by electro-acoustic transducer means; and 2-channel signal generation means for generating 2-channel audio signals to be supplied to the electro-acoustic transducer means from audio signals of plural channels from the head related transfer function convolution processing units, wherein, in the head related transfer function convolution processing units, at least a head related transfer function concerning direct waves from the assumed virtual image localization positions concerning a left channel and a right channel in the plural channels to both ears of the listener is n
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takao Fukui, Ayataka Nishio
  • Patent number: 8867750
    Abstract: Method and system for generating output signals for reproduction by two physical speakers in response to input audio signals indicative of sound from multiple source locations including at least two rear locations. Typically, the input signals are indicative of sound from three front locations and two rear locations (left and right surround sources). A virtualizer generates left and right surround outputs useful for driving front loudspeakers to emit sound that a listener perceives as emitting from rear sources. Typically, the virtualizer generates left and right surround outputs by transforming rear source inputs in accordance with a head-related transfer function. To ensure that virtual channels are well heard in the presence of other channels, the virtualizer performs dynamic range compression on rear source inputs. The dynamic range compression is preferably accomplished by amplifying rear source inputs or partially processed versions thereof in a nonlinear way relative to front source inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: C. Phillip Brown
  • Patent number: 8867751
    Abstract: A method, medium, and system encoding and/or decoding a multi-channel audio signal, and a method, medium, and system decoding a signal down-mixed from multi-channels to a 2-channel signal. The method of encoding an audio signal may include generating spatial cues indicating directivity information of a virtual sound source generated by at least two channel sound sources among a plurality of channels, and down-mixing the plurality of channel signals. The method of decoding an audio signal may include receiving inputs of spatial cues indicating directivity information of a virtual sound source generated by at least two channel sound sources among sound sources of a plurality of channels, and a signal down-mixed from the plurality of channel signals, and restoring the down-mixed signal to a plurality of channel signals by using the spatial cues. According to such systems, media, and methods, a multi-channel audio signal can be accurately encoded and/or decoded regardless of frequency bands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Youngtae Kim
  • Patent number: 8861757
    Abstract: An apparatus for calculating driving coefficients for loudspeakers of a loudspeaker arrangement for an audio signal associated with a virtual source is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventor: Thomas Korn
  • Patent number: 8855341
    Abstract: Systems, methods, apparatus, and machine-readable media for detecting head movement based on recorded sound signals are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Lae-Hoon Kim, Pei Xiang, Erik Visser
  • Patent number: 8831255
    Abstract: An augmented reality (AR) audio system for augmenting environment or ambient sound with sounds from a virtual speaker or sound source positioned at a location in the space surrounding an AR participant. The sound from the virtual speaker may be triggered by an action of the listener and/or by the location or relative orientation of the listener. The AR audio system includes stereo earphones receiving an augmented audio track from a control unit, and binaural microphones are provided to capture ambient sounds. The control unit operates to process trigger signals and retrieve one or more augmentation sounds. The control unit uses an AR audio mixer to combine the ambient sound from the microphones with the augmentation sounds to generate left and right ear augmented audio or binaural audio, which may be modified for acoustic effects of the environment including virtual objects in the environment or virtual characteristics of real objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: David W. Crawford, Amber Samdahl, Jeffrey Voris, Istvan B. Kadar, Kenny Mitchell
  • Patent number: 8831254
    Abstract: Systems and methods of processing audio signals are described. The audio signals comprise information about spatial position of a sound source relative to a listener. At least one audio filter generates two filtered signals for each of audio signal. The two filtered signals are mixed with other filtered signals from other audio signals to create a right output audio channel and a left audio output channel, such that the spatial position of the sound source is perceptible from the right and left audio output channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: DTS LLC
    Inventor: Wen Wang
  • Patent number: 8824709
    Abstract: A system for generating 3D sound with adjustable source positioning includes a first stage and a second stage, which is coupled to the first stage and to a speaker array that includes a plurality of speakers. The first stage is configured to position a plurality of virtual sound sources through a positioner output. The second stage is configured to generate a 3D signal for the speaker array based on the positioner output. The speaker array is configured to generate a 3D sound stage including the virtual sound sources based on the 3D signal. The first stage may be further configured to reposition the virtual sound sources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Yunhong Li
  • Patent number: 8817997
    Abstract: A stereophonic sound output apparatus and an early reflection generation method thereof. The stereophonic sound output apparatus includes an early reflection generator to implement an early reflection when a 5.1 channel audio signal is down-mixed to a 2-channel audio signal to play back a 5.1 channel audio signal through a 2-channel headphone. The early reflection generator generates early reflections in pairs in which there is an appropriate time difference between the left side reflections and the right side reflections by generating an interaural time difference between two input audio signals and filtering. It is possible to copy the characteristics of early reflections in a real listening room. It is also possible to implement an early reflection similar to a real reflection measured in an apparatus for playing back the 5.1 channel audio signal through 2-channel headphone. A natural 5.1 channel effect may also be obtained using little computation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Denis Kutuzov, Chul-min Choi
  • Patent number: 8804969
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for outputting a sound source signal by using a virtual speaker are provided. The method includes generating a virtual sound source signal delayed by a virtual delay value, instead of by the minimum delay value, according to a sampling rate of an input sound source signal, from the input sound source signal; generating a speaker output signal in which a sampling rate is changed based on the input sound source signal and the generated virtual sound source signal; and outputting the generated speaker output signal. Thus, a non-uniform radiation pattern, which causes distortion in a sound radiated from a speaker array, is removed and the limitation of a frequency band of a controllable sound source signal is overcome, thereby providing a stable sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Young-tae Kim, Jung-ho Kim, Sang-chul Ko
  • Patent number: 8792647
    Abstract: A circuit device for a three-dimensional sound system is disclosed. The device circuit contains a plurality of resistors, capacitors and transistors. The circuit is an analog circuit creating an actual three-dimensional sound system where the listener can perceive sound coming from different spatial directions. The circuit device accomplishes this by sensing the amplitude and phase difference between the sound signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Inventor: Dalwinder Singh Sidhu
  • Patent number: 8787584
    Abstract: A method includes detecting, via a first microphone coupled to a user's left ear, a sound, detecting, via a second microphone coupled to the user's right ear, the sound, determining a time difference between detection of the sound at the first microphone and detection of the sound at the second microphone, and estimating a user's head size based on the time difference. The method also includes identifying a head-related transfer function (HRTF) associated with the user's head size or modifying, a HRTF based on the user's head size. The method further includes applying the identified HRTF or modified HRTF to audio signals to produce output signals and forwarding the output signals to first and second speakers coupled to the user's left and right ears.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications AB
    Inventors: Martin Nyström, Markus Agevik
  • Patent number: 8767968
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for providing 3D audio, which may be used in augmented reality. A 3D audio signal may be generated based on sensor data collected from the actual room in which the listener is located and the actual position of the listener in the room. The 3D audio signal may include a number of components that are determined based on the collected sensor data and the listener's location. For example, a number of (virtual) sound paths between a virtual sound source and the listener may be determined. The sensor data may be used to estimate materials in the room, such that the affect that those materials would have on sound as it travels along the paths can be determined. In some embodiments, sensor data may be used to collect physical characteristics of the listener such that a suitable HRTF may be determined from a library of HRTFs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jason Flaks, Avi Bar-Zeev, John Tardif
  • Patent number: 8761420
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a generating unit configured to generate image signals for displaying content on each of a plurality of screens; and a synthesizing unit configured to synthesize a plurality of sound signals corresponding to the plurality of image signals to cause positions where sounds based on the plurality of sound signals are localized to vary from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Daisuke Negi, Hiroshige Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8754925
    Abstract: An audio locating and tracking apparatus, a method of directing a camera to view an audio source, and a video conferencing terminal are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes: (1) an audio source identifier configured to locate an audio source based on multimodal sensor data from at least two different types of sensors and (2) an image selector configured to automatically direct a camera to view the audio source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Alcatel Lucent
    Inventors: Hock M. Ng, Edward L. Sutter, Jr., Richard M. Abbot
  • Patent number: 8755922
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling a wave field synthesis renderer with audio objects includes a provider for providing a scene description, wherein the scene description defines a temporal sequence of audio objects in an audio scene and further includes information on the source position of a virtual source as well as on a start or an end of the virtual source. Furthermore, the audio object includes at least a reference to an audio file associated with the virtual source. The audio objects are processed by a processor, in order to generate a single output data stream for each renderer module, wherein both information on the position of the virtual source and the audio file itself are included in mutual association in this output data stream. With this, high portability on the one hand and high quality due to secure data consistency on the other hand are achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Katrin Reichelt, Gabriel Gatzsche, Sandra Brix
  • Patent number: 8750541
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a head-mountable support structure, a transducer array coupled to the support structure, and a processor configured to control the transducer array to radiate ultrasonic waves toward an ear of a user of the head-mountable support structure. The ultrasonic waves are audible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Jianchun Dong, Eliot Kim, Mitchell J. Heinrich
  • Patent number: 8737648
    Abstract: A spatial element is added to communications, including over telephone conference calls heard through headphones or a stereo speaker setup. Functions are created to modify signals from different callers to create the illusion that the callers are speaking from different parts of the room.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Inventors: Wei-ge Chen, Zhengyou Zhang
  • Patent number: 8724834
    Abstract: An acoustic user interface system and method for tracking spatial location data. A location tracking unit provides location information with respect to an object in an environment. The location information may be further employed to synthesize a perception of three-dimensional spatial location data with respect to multiple objects in the environment. The acoustic user interface communicates the three-dimensional spatial location data via an auditory channel to a stereophonic device based on a human stereophonic perception of one or more acoustic signal variable correlated with a relative location of the objects in order to co-ordinate and communicate location information effectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Steve Huseth, Tom Plocher
  • Publication number: 20140126758
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and device for processing sound data comprising determining a listener position; determining a virtual sound source position; receiving sound data; processing the sound data for reproduction by at least one speaker to let the listener perceive the processed sound data reproduced by the speaker to originate from the virtual sound position. This provides the listener with a realistic experience of sound by the speaker. Implementation of the invention allows sound data to be provided also in a dynamic environment, where positions of the listener, the virtual sound source or both can change. For example, sound data may be reproduced by a mobile device by means of headphones to a moving listener, where the virtual sound source is a shop. As the listener moves, the sound data is processed such that when reproduced via the headphones, it is perceived as to originate from the shop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Publication date: May 8, 2014
    Applicant: BRIGHT MINDS HOLDING B.V.
    Inventor: Johannes Hendrikus Cornelis Antonius Van Der Wijst
  • Patent number: 8718301
    Abstract: A telescopic spatial radio system is provided for sending a signal representative of a sound at a speaker location to a listener location, the signal providing positioning information of the speaker location relative to the listener location and processing the signal using the positioning information to provide a telescopic zoomable binaural sound at the listener location having a simulated spatial relationship based on the position information of the speaker location relative to the listener location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Norman Paul Jouppi, Subramoniam N. Iyer
  • Patent number: 8718285
    Abstract: An object decoding unit receives a plurality of pieces of coded acoustic information coded on an object basis and decodes the received coded acoustic information on an object basis to generate object signals. A rendering unit positions, for each acoustic signal resulting from synthesizing the object signals, a virtual sound source of each of the object signals resulting from the object-based decoding, in a listening space, and priority information indicating a priority of the acoustic signal is multiplexed with the coded acoustic information. The rendering unit determines, with reference to the priority indicated in the priority information or the number of object signals included in the acoustic signal, a size of an area of the listening space which is allocated to the acoustic signal, and positions, within the area, the virtual sound source of each of the object signals included in the acoustic signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tomokazu Ishikawa, Takeshi Norimatsu, Huan Zhou, Zhong Hai Shan, Kok Seng Chong
  • Patent number: 8718930
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus that detects a current location of the information processing apparatus; obtains a direction of a destination from the detected current location as a target direction; detects a facial orientation of a user wearing a headphone unit connected to the information processing apparatus via a wired or wireless connection in relation to a reference orientation based on outputs of a geomagnetic sensor and an acceleration sensor connected to the headphone unit; obtains a relative target angle based on a difference between the target direction and the user's facial orientation; and generates sound to be output by the headphone unit based on the obtained relative target angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
    Inventors: Makoto Tachibana, Takashi Shiina, Tetsuya Naruse, Yuichi Shirai, Chikashi Yajima, Susumu Takatsuka
  • Patent number: 8705778
    Abstract: A method for generating and playing audio signals and a system for processing audio signals are disclosed. The method for generating audio signals includes: generating distance information about an audio signal corresponding to a view point position, according to obtained auxiliary video and direction information about the audio signal, where the auxiliary video is a disparity map or a depth map; encoding the direction information and distance information about the audio signal, and sending the encoded information. The apparatus for generating audio signals includes an audio signal distance information obtaining module and an audio signal encoding module. With the present invention, the position information, including direction information and distance information, about the audio signal may be obtained accurately in combination with a three-dimensional video signal and a three-dimensional audio signal, without increasing the size of a microphone array, and the audio signal is sent and played.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wuzhou Zhan, Dongqi Wang
  • Patent number: 8705751
    Abstract: This application relates to a system for compression and mixing for hearing assistance devices by application of compression to individual sound sources before mixing, according to one example. Variations of the present system using surround sound provide separate signals from a surround sound synthesizer which are compressed prior to mixing of the signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Brent Edwards
  • Patent number: 8705779
    Abstract: A surround sound virtualization apparatus and method. The surround sound virtualization apparatus may include an audio decoder to perform head-related transfer function (HRTF) filtering, and a time delay unit to provide a time delay to a plurality of output signals of the audio decoder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kang Eun Lee, Do-Hyung Kim, Chang Yong Son
  • Patent number: 8699716
    Abstract: The conference device (EMCU) according to the invention has several monaural HRTF filters (HRTF1, . . . , HRTFN), each of which is to be allocated to a conference participant. The abbreviation HRTF stands for “Head Related Transfer Function”. A corresponding HRTF filter (HRTF1, . . . , HRTFN) is used for filtering a monaural audio signal coming from the conference participant to whom it is allocated. An individual, monaural HRTF filter coefficient set is responsible in this case for defining the filter characteristics of a particular HRTF filter. The conference device (EMCU) also has a conference mixing device (MP) coupled to the HRTF filters (HRTF1, . . . , HRTFN), for mixing the individually filtered audio signals from various conference participants and for transferring the mixed audio signals to conference participants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gonzalo Lucioni
  • Patent number: 8682010
    Abstract: A headphone system includes sound processor which calculates properties of the environment from signals from an internal microphone and an external microphone. The impulse response of the environment may be calculated from the signals received from the internal and external microphones as the user speaks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Christophe Marc Macours
  • Patent number: 8675899
    Abstract: A front surround sound reproduction system which improves the performance of beam steering by using a speaker array arranged geometrically on two or more planes or on one curved surface, and a signal reproducing method of the system. The audio reproduction apparatus to reproduce a multi-channel audio signal by using a plurality of speakers includes a signal distribution unit to duplicate a multi-channel audio signal and to distribute the duplicated signals as one or more groups of multi-channel signals corresponding to one or more speaker array groups, a steering processing unit to form sound beams with steering angles predetermined in relation to each speaker array group, from the groups of multi-channel signals distributed by the signal distribution unit, and a speaker array unit having one or more speaker array groups to reproduce the sound beams of each group formed by the steering processing unit, in the speaker array group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chi-ho Jung
  • Patent number: 8675882
    Abstract: In reverberant environments, reflected waves including an echoic sound and a muffled sound affect and disable recognition of sound arrival directions. As a result, the subjective clearness of the sounds deteriorates. In order to enhance the clearness of a reproduced sound in a reverberant environment, a pre-processing filter unit corrects an input sound signal portion having a frequency band relating to human auditory recognition on a sound wave arrival direction, and speakers reproduce the sound signal. The correction involves attenuating an input sound signal in the frequency band portion, based on the relationship between the frequencies of the input sound signal and the magnitude of influence to the recognition of the sound wave arrival direction. This attenuation is achieved by filtering using filter coefficients that are set by a first filter characteristic setting unit using hearing characteristic parameters that are set by a hearing characteristic setting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Naoya Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8670576
    Abstract: A method of processing an audio signal is disclosed. The present invention includes receiving a downmix signal including at least one object signal and object information extracted when the downmix signal is generated, receiving mix information including mode selection information, the mix information for controlling the object signal, bypassing the downmix signal or extracting a background object and at least one independent object from the downmix signal, based on the mode selection information, and if the downmix signal is bypassed, generating multi-channel information using the object information and the mix information, wherein the downmix signal corresponds to a mono signal and wherein the mode selection information includes information indicating which one of modes including a normal mode, a mode for controlling the background object, and a mode for controlling the at least one independent object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2014
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Hyen-O Oh, Yang Won Jung
  • Patent number: 8666080
    Abstract: Wearers of hearing apparatuses and in particular of hearing device systems having two speakers are to be able to enjoy the experience of spatial multi-channel reproduction. Provision is accordingly made to generate a dual-channel audio signal for a binaural hearing apparatus comprising a multi-channel audio signal having at least three individual channels. Accordingly at least one spatial impression-influencing signal level in at least one of the individual channels is changed, and a signal of at least one of the individual channels is connected with signals of the remaining individual channels to the dual-channel audio signal. A corresponding hearing apparatus and in particular a corresponding hearing device have a transformation system that takes over this preprocessing from the multi-channel audio signal to the dual-channel audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: Jens Hain, Robert Kasanmascheff
  • Patent number: 8660280
    Abstract: In accordance with a method for providing a distinct perceptual location for an audio source within an audio mixture, a foreground signal may be processed to provide a foreground perceptual angle for the foreground signal. The foreground signal may also be processed to provide a desired attenuation level for the foreground signal. A background signal may be processed to provide a background perceptual angle for the background signal. The background signal may also be processed to provide a desired attenuation level for the background signal. The foreground signal and the background signal may be combined into an output audio source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Pei Xiang, Samir Kumar Gupta, Eddie L. T. Choy, Prajakt V. Kulkarni
  • Patent number: 8654994
    Abstract: A method of processing an audio signal is disclosed. The present invention includes receiving a downmix signal including at least one object signal, and object information extracted when the downmix signal is generated, receiving mix information including mode selection information, the mix information for controlling the object signal, and generating a stereo output signal using the downmix signal or extracting a background object and at least one independent object from the downmix signal, based on the mode selection information, wherein the downmix signal corresponds to a mono signal, wherein the stereo output signal corresponds to a time-domain signal including a signal generated from decorrelating the downmix signal, and wherein the mode selection information includes information indicating which one of modes including a normal mode, a mode for controlling the background object, and a mode for controlling the at least one independent object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Hyen-O Oh, Yang Won Jung
  • Patent number: 8644520
    Abstract: A system and method include obtaining an aural impulse signature at a first location in a simulated space. An aural impulse signature at a second location in a simulated space is also obtained. Aural impulse signature morphing is applied via a computer to aural impulse signatures of the first and second locations to provide an intermediate aural impulse signature between the first and second locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventor: Nathaniel Napoletano
  • Patent number: 8644531
    Abstract: An information processing system includes a display, a display sensor that detects a movement or a rotation of the display, a transducer unit as an earphone unit or a headphone unit, a sound processing part that processes an audio signal so as to localize a sound image in a position outside a head of a listener wearing the transducer unit and listening to sound, and an operation controller that computes an output from the display sensor to obtain a moving direction and a moving distance, or a rotation direction and a rotation angle of the display, and controls sound processing performed by the sound processing part in accordance with a result of the computation so that a positional relation between the display and the head of the listener is mapped as a positional relation between an image display surface and the head of the listener in a virtual viewing space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Homare Kon, Yuji Yamada
  • Patent number: 8631327
    Abstract: A method consistent with the present invention involves displaying a window on a computer monitor; at one or more programmed processors, determining a position of the window on the computer monitor; at the one or more programmed processors, deducing a user position for a user of the window with the window based on the position of the window on the computer monitor; and steering audio signals from an application running in the window to a loudspeaker in an array of loudspeakers, where the loudspeaker is a loudspeaker in the array of loudspeakers closer to the deduced user position than another loudspeaker in the array. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobukazu Sugiyama, James Amendolagine, Djung Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20140010391
    Abstract: One or more devices may receive, from a media presentation device worn by a user, sensory data comprising at least information describing orientation of the media presentation device. The one or more devices may also determine an approximate direction of a gaze of the user in a three dimensional audio space based on the information describing the orientation of the media presentation device, identify a sound source at which the user gazes based on the approximate direction of the gaze of the user in the three dimensional audio space, obtain audio data associated with the sound source based on an identity of the identified sound source, determine an action to perform on the audio data associated with the sound source, and perform the determined action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Publication date: January 9, 2014
    Applicant: SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB
    Inventors: Martin Ek, Per Magnus Landqvist, Par-Anders Aronsson, Ola Thorn, Gert Magnus Jendbro, Par Stenberg
  • Patent number: 8619998
    Abstract: The present invention describes techniques that can be used to provide novel methods of spatial audio rendering using adapted M-S matrix shuffler topologies. Such techniques include headphone and loudspeaker-based binaural signal simulation and rendering, stereo expansion, multichannel upmix and pseudo multichannel surround rendering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Creative Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Martin Walsh, Jean Marc Jot, Edward Stein
  • Patent number: 8620011
    Abstract: A method, medium, and system generating a 3-dimensional (3D) stereo signal in a decoder by using a surround data stream. According to such a method, medium, and system, a head related transfer function (HRTF) is applied in a quadrature mirror filter (QMF) domain, thereby generating a 3D stereo signal by using a surround data stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Junghoe Kim, Eunmi Oh, Kihyun Choo, Miao Lei
  • Patent number: 8620012
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for providing a stereo effect when playing an audio file at a portable terminal are provided. The apparatus includes a component extractor for extracting a mono component and stereo components from an audio signal and a gain controller for determining a signal ratio of the stereo components to the mono component and for controlling a stereo gain according to the signal ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Gang-Youl Kim
  • Patent number: 8594336
    Abstract: A sound image localization apparatus comprises an L direct output section that produces an output signal by inputting an audio signal of a rear left audio input channel to a filter having a characteristic obtained by dividing RLD by LD, an L cross output section that produces an output signal by inputting the audio signal of the rear left audio input channel to a filter having a characteristic obtained by dividing RLC by LC, an R cross output section that produces an output signal by inputting an audio signal of a rear right audio input channel to a filter having a characteristic obtained by dividing RRC by RC, an R direct output section that produces an output signal by inputting the audio signal of the rear right audio input channel to a filter having a characteristic obtained by dividing RRD by RD, a first adding section that adds a difference signal between the output signal of the L direct output section and the output signal of the R cross output section to an audio signal of a front left audio input ch
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Masaki Katayama
  • Patent number: 8588440
    Abstract: An apparatus, such as a decoder is arranged to modify the sweet-spot of a spatial M-channel audio signal by modifying spatial parameters. Specifically, a receiver (201) receives an N-channel audio signal where N<M. The M-channel signal may specifically be an MPEG Surround sound signal and the N-channel signal may be a stereo signal. A parameter unit (203) determines spatial parameters relating the N-channel audio signal to the spatial M-channel audio signal and a modifying unit (207) modifies the sweet-spot of the spatial M-channel audio signal by modifying at least one of the spatial parameters. A generating unit (205) then generates the spatial M-channel audio signal by up-mixing the N-channel audio signal using the at least one modified spatial parameter. An efficient and/or low complexity sweet-spot manipulation is achieved by an integration of sweet-spot manipulation and multi-channel generation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
    Inventors: Jeroen Gerardus Henricus Koppens, Erik Gosuinus Petrus Schuijers