Sony patents virtual meeting audio that groups speakers by location
Sony describes a system for remote meetings that uses head-related transfer function (HRTF) data to make voices sound like they are coming from specific spots in a virtual room. It allows users to group participants together, so people in the same group share the same audio direction, simplifying the sound experience.
In the filing’s own words
An information processing device according to an aspect of the present technology includes a storage unit that stores HRTF data corresponding to a plurality of positions based on a listening position, and a sound image localization processing unit that performs a sound image localization process based on the HRTF data corresponding to a position, in a virtual space, of a participant participating in a conversation via a network and sound data of the participant. The present technology can be applied to a computer that performs remote conference.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An information processing device comprising: circuitry configured to: acquire position information corresponding to each user of a plurality of users in a virtual space set up by each user and sound data from each of a plurality of uttering users participating in a conversation via a network; store head-related transfer function (HRTF) data corresponding to a plurality of positions of each of the plurality of uttering users based on a position of a listening user; perform a sound image localization process for the plurality of users based on a relative positional relationship between the position of the listening user of the plurality of users and the position of each uttering user of the plurality of users in the virtual space; generate audio data corresponding to each listening user of the plurality of users based on the sound image localization process; acquire group setting information which is information grouping the uttering users set by each of the users, wherein the group setting information is stored in association with information of each of the users who set up a group; and perform the sound localization process for the plurality of users using the same HRTF for sound data of the uttering users belonging to the same group in the group setting information corresponding to the each listening user of the plurality of users.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
- Official title
- Information processing device, information processing terminal, information processing method, and program
- Patent number
- US12739585B2
- Application number
- 18024742
- Filed
- Sep 10, 2021
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 13
Classified under
H04S 7/302 Electricity & electronicsH04S 2420/01 Electricity & electronicsMore from Sony in Audio & voice
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.