Spatial Audio for Audio Conferencing

• US 20100316232A1
• Filed: 06/16/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Huitema, Christian, Acero, Alejandro
• Granted Patent: US 8,351,589 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/92
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/568 audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F

Abstract

Spatialized audio is generated for voice data received at a telecommunications device based on spatial audio information received with the voice data and based on a determined virtual position of the source of the voice data for producing spatialized audio signals.

Claims

1. Computer readable storage media having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method comprising:

establishing a virtual position of each participant to an audio conference relative to one or more other participants of the audio conference by displaying information for each participant in a graphic user interface on a display of a telecommunications device connected to the audio conference;

receiving, at the telecommunications device, a voice communication containing voice data originating from a particular participant of the audio conference;

decoding the voice data received by extracting an audio watermark received with the voice data to determine spatial audio information and monaural voice data; and

applying the spatial audio information to the monaural voice data to produce spatialized audio comprising a left audio channel signal and a right audio channel signal, wherein the spatialized audio is spatialized to appear to come from a direction corresponding to the virtual position of the particular participant that is a source of the corresponding voice data, as established on the graphic user interface of telecommunications device.

2. The computer readable storage media according to claim 1, wherein the spatial audio information determined from the audio watermark extracted from the voice data includes an identity of the particular participant that is the source of the corresponding voice data.

3. The computer readable storage media according to claim 1, wherein the spatial audio information determined from the audio watermark extracted from the voice data includes difference information between the left audio channel signal and the right audio channel signal calculated by an audio conferencing computing device that forwarded the voice data, or a virtual position of the particular participant that is the source of the corresponding voice data.

4. A method implemented by a telecommunications device, the method comprising:

receiving voice data at the telecommunications device, the voice data corresponding to a first participant of multiple audio conference participants;

receiving spatial audio information corresponding to the voice data; and

applying the spatial audio information to the voice data to generate a left spatialized audio signal and right spatialized audio signal based upon a determined virtual position of the first participant.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the spatial audio information is determined from an audio watermark included with the voice data received at the telecommunications device.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the spatial audio information corresponding to the voice data received includes an identity of the first participant, identifying the first participant as a source of the corresponding voice data.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the spatial audio information received corresponding to the voice data includes difference information between the left spatialized audio signal and the right spatialized audio signal calculated by an audio conferencing computing device that sent the voice data.

8. The method according to claim 4, further comprising establishing a virtual position for each of the multiple participants to the audio conference relative to the other participants of the audio conference by placing information for each participant in a graphic user interface on a display of the telecommunications device.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising rearranging the virtual positions of the multiple participants to the audio conference by rearranging the positions of the information for each participant on the graphic user interface, wherein spatialized audio produced for each participant is adjusted based upon the rearranged virtual positions.

10. The method according to claim 4, wherein the left spatialized audio signal and right spatialized audio signal are generated based upon the determined virtual position of the first participant by applying a time delay to one of the left or right spatialized audio signals to cause the voice data to appear to come from a direction corresponding to the determined virtual position of the first participant relative to a virtual position of the telecommunications device.

11. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

sending a voice communication from the telecommunications device to an audio conferencing computing device managing the audio conference; and

including outgoing information in the voice communication to the audio conferencing computing device, wherein the outgoing information is included in an audio watermark attached to the voice communication.

12. The method according to claim 4, further comprising establishing the audio conference by sending an SMS (short message service) message to an audio conferencing computing device, wherein the SMS message specifies a time and date for establishing the audio conference.

13. The method according to claim 5, wherein the audio watermark is encoded with the voice data at a frequency between 0 and 300 Hz.

14. Computer readable storage media having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed by one or more processors to implement the method of claim 4.

15. A system comprising:

a computing device having one or more processors coupled to computer readable storage media storing instructions adapted to be executed by the one or more processors for configuring the computing device to;

establish an audio conference for enabling audio communications between a plurality of telecommunications devices;

receive voice data from a first telecommunications device of the plurality of telecommunications devices;

determine spatial audio information for first telecommunications device that is a source of the voice data; and

forward the voice data and the spatial audio information to other telecommunication devices of the plurality of telecommunications devices.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to include the spatial audio information as an audio watermark encoded with the voice data forwarded to the other telecommunication devices.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to send the spatial audio information as an SMS (short message service) message or as a data message sent through a data connection to one or more of the other telecommunications devices.

18. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

prior to establishing the audio conference, receive an SMS message from one of the telecommunications devices, wherein the message specifies a desired time, date, and identities of participants for the audio conference; and

send, to the telecommunications devices of identified participants of the audio conference, messages informing the identified participants of information regarding the audio conference.

19. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

determine virtual positions for the plurality of telecommunications devices party to the audio conference; and

determine the spatial audio information by calculating difference information between a left spatialized audio signal and a right spatialized audio signal for the virtual position of the first participant; and

include the difference information as the spatial audio information forwarded to the other telecommunications devices.

20. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

determine an identity or virtual position corresponding to the first telecommunications device; and

include the identity or a virtual position determined as the spatial audio information forwarded to the other telecommunications devices.