Processing audio data to compensate for partial hearing loss or an adverse hearing environment
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including audio object position metadata;
receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment;
determining at least one audio object type from among a list of audio object types that includes dialogue;
making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue;
adjusting audio object levels according to the audio object prioritization; and
rendering the audio objects into a plurality of speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object position metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment,wherein rendering involves rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space and increasing a distance between at least some audio objects in the virtual acoustic space.
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Abstract
Methods a provided for improving an audio scene for people suffering from hearing loss or for adverse hearing environments. Audio objects may be prioritized. In some implementations, audio objects that correspond to dialog may be assigned to a highest priority level. Other implementations may involve assigning the highest priority to other types of audio objects, such as audio objects that correspond to events. During a process of dynamic range compression, higher-priority objects may be boosted more, or cut less, than lower-priority objects. Some lower-priority audio objects may fall below the threshold of human hearing, in which case the audio objects may be dropped and not rendered.
18 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including audio object position metadata; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment; determining at least one audio object type from among a list of audio object types that includes dialogue; making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue; adjusting audio object levels according to the audio object prioritization; and rendering the audio objects into a plurality of speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object position metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment, wherein rendering involves rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space and increasing a distance between at least some audio objects in the virtual acoustic space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method, comprising:
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receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata; extracting one or more features from the audio data; determining an audio object type based, at least in part, on features extracted from the audio signals, wherein the audio object type is selected from a list of audio object types that includes dialogue; making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein the audio object prioritization determines, at least in part, a gain to be applied during a process of rendering the audio objects into speaker feed signals, the process of rendering involving rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space, and wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue; adding audio object prioritization metadata, based on the audio object prioritization, to the audio object metadata; and increasing a distance between at least some audio object in the virtual acoustic space. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus, comprising:
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an interface system capable of receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position metadata; and a control system configured for; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment; determining at least one audio object type from among a list of audio object types that includes dialogue; making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue; adjusting audio object levels according to the audio object prioritization; and rendering the audio objects into a plurality of speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object position metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment, wherein rendering involves rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space, and increasing a distance between at least some audio objects in the virtual acoustic space.
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14. A non-transitory medium having software stored thereon, the software including instructions for controlling at least one device for:
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receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position metadata; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment; determining at least one audio object type from among a list of audio object types that includes dialogue; making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue; adjusting audio object levels according to the audio object prioritization; and rendering the audio objects into a plurality of speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object position metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment, wherein rendering involves rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space and increasing a distance between at least some audio objects in the virtual acoustic space.
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15. An apparatus, comprising:
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an interface system capable of receiving audio data comprising a plurality of audio objects, the audio objects including audio signals and associated audio object metadata; and a control system configured for; extracting one or more features from the audio data; determining an audio object type based, at least in part, on features extracted from the audio signals, wherein the audio object type is selected from a list of audio object types that includes dialogue; making an audio object prioritization based, at least in part, on the audio object type, wherein the audio object prioritization determines, at least in part, a gain to be applied during a process of rendering the audio objects into speaker feed signals, the process of rendering involving rendering the audio objects to locations in a virtual acoustic space, and wherein making the audio object prioritization involves assigning a highest priority to audio objects that correspond to the dialogue; adding audio object prioritization metadata, based on the audio object prioritization, to the audio object metadata; and increasing a distance between at least some audio objects in the virtual acoustic space.
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Specification