System and method for audio telepresence
First Claim
1. An audio telepresence system, comprising:
- a user station at a first location, the user station comprising;
a plurality of microphones adapted to be positioned around a user to capture sound produced by the user; and
a lapel microphone for capturing the sound produced by the user;
the user station comprising a computer system configured to;
compare input volumes for each of the plurality of microphones to determine directional information associated with the sound produced by the user based on which one of the plurality of microphones has the highest input volume; and
generate a stream of data representative of sound captured by at least one of the plurality of microphones, the lapel microphone, or both; and
a telepresence unit at a second location, the telepresence unit providing a three-dimensional representation of the user that simultaneously includes a front view and a profile view, the telepresence unit being remotely coupled to the user station to receive the stream of data and the directional information, the telepresence unit comprising a plurality of speakers for projecting sound interpreted from the stream of data in a direction corresponding to the directional information, the telepresence unit being further adapted to capture audio stimuli at the second location and to communicate the audio stimuli to the user station.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for audio telepresence. The system includes a user station and a telepresence unit. The telepresence unit includes a directional microphone for capturing sounds at the remote location, and means for converting the captured sounds into a stream of data to be communicated to the user station. The user station includes means for receiving the stream of data and a plurality of speakers for recreating the sounds of the remote location. The user station and the speakers are located within an anechoic chamber where sound reflections are substantially absorbed by anechoic linings of the chamber walls. Because of the substantial lack of sound reflection within the anechoic chamber, a user within the anechoic chamber will be able to experience an aural ambience that closely resembles the sounds captured at the remote location. The user station may include microphones for capturing the user'"'"'s voice, and the telepresence unit may include speakers for projecting the user'"'"'s voice at the remote location. Feedback suppression, audio direction steering, and head-coding techniques may also be used to enhance the user'"'"'s sense of remote presence.
142 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. An audio telepresence system, comprising:
-
a user station at a first location, the user station comprising; a plurality of microphones adapted to be positioned around a user to capture sound produced by the user; and a lapel microphone for capturing the sound produced by the user; the user station comprising a computer system configured to; compare input volumes for each of the plurality of microphones to determine directional information associated with the sound produced by the user based on which one of the plurality of microphones has the highest input volume; and generate a stream of data representative of sound captured by at least one of the plurality of microphones, the lapel microphone, or both; and a telepresence unit at a second location, the telepresence unit providing a three-dimensional representation of the user that simultaneously includes a front view and a profile view, the telepresence unit being remotely coupled to the user station to receive the stream of data and the directional information, the telepresence unit comprising a plurality of speakers for projecting sound interpreted from the stream of data in a direction corresponding to the directional information, the telepresence unit being further adapted to capture audio stimuli at the second location and to communicate the audio stimuli to the user station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of recreating communication at a first location at a second location, comprising:
capturing sound at the first location, comprising; capturing the sound at a plurality of positions around a user site with a plurality of fixed microphones; capturing the sound with a portable microphone; determining loudness values for sound captured by each of the plurality of fixed microphones; comparing the loudness values for each of the plurality of fixed microphones; determining a primary microphone of the plurality of fixed microphones based on the comparison of the loudness values for each of the plurality of fixed microphones; converting the sound captured by the portable microphone into audio data; transmitting the audio data to a telepresence unit at the second location; and
projecting the captured sound at the second location, comprising;playing the audio data at a different volume at each of a plurality of speakers of the telepresence unit based a correspondence between each of the plurality of speakers, the plurality of fixed microphones, and the loudness values associated with the plurality of fixed microphones. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
18. A telepresence system, comprising:
-
a user station, comprising; at least four directional microphones positioned in a substantially horizontal plane around a user site; a lapel microphone; a local computer configured to determine input volume values associated with each of the at least four directional microphones and select a primary microphone of the at least four directional microphones based on a comparison of the input volume values; a transmission unit configured to transmit a data stream including sound captured by the lapel microphone and loudness values to a remote telepresence unit; and the remote telepresence unit, comprising; a receptor configured to receive the data stream; at least four speakers, wherein each of the four speakers corresponds to one of the four directional microphones; and a processing unit configure to reconstruct the data stream into at least four audio channels and submit each of the at least four audio channels to a different one of the at least four speakers based on the loudness values. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification