Speaker with multiple independent audio streams
The various embodiments relate generally to systems, devices, apparatuses, and methods for providing audio streams to multiple listeners, and more specifically, to a system, a device, and a method for providing independent listener-specific audio streams to multiple listeners using a common audio source, such as a set of loudspeakers, and, optionally, a shared audio stream. In some embodiments, a method includes identifying a first audio stream for reception at a first region to be canceled at a second region, and generating a cancellation signal that is projected in another audio stream destined for the second region. The cancellation signal and the first audio steam are combined at the second region. Further, a compensation signal to reduce the cancellation signal at the first region can be generated.
1. A method comprising:
identifying a first audio stream for reception at a first region to be canceled at a second region;
modifying the first audio stream to form a modified first audio stream, the modifying further comprising forming a plurality of cancellation signals including the modified first audio stream to be projected via the second channel loudspeaker, and forming recursively a plurality of compensation signals including the compensation signal to compensate for the presence of the plurality of cancellation signals at the first region;
designating the modified first audio stream to be projected via a second channel loudspeaker and the first audio stream via a first channel loudspeaker to the second region;
acoustically combining the modified first audio stream and the first audio stream to reduce an effect of the first audio stream at the second region; and
generating a compensation signal to reduce the modified first audio stream at the first region.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming recursively the plurality of compensation signals further comprises:
determining a magnitude of one of the plurality of compensation signals; and
forming other compensation signals until a threshold magnitude is met.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
selecting the threshold magnitude based on a magnitude of a shared audio stream.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a second audio stream for reception at the second region to be canceled at the first region;
identifying a shared audio stream for reception at the first region and the second region; and
generating audio signals to project the first audio stream with reduced magnitude at the second region, the second audio stream with reduced magnitude at the first region, and the shared audio stream to the first region and the second region.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining locations of the first region and the second region;
generating the modified first audio stream based on the locations;
determining updated locations of the first region and the second region; and
tuning automatically the modification of the first audio stream based on the updated locations.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the updated locations of the first region and the second region further comprise:
receiving location data representing the updated locations from wearable computing devices,
wherein a first wearable computing device is disposed at the first region and a second wearable computing device is disposed at the second region.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
selecting one of either the first region or the second region for receiving a private audio stream not intended for the other of either the first region or the second region,
wherein the private audio stream originates at a remote region.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the private audio stream is generated during a teleconference in which audio signals of multiple remote regions are generated as a shared audio envelop, the private audio stream originating from the remote region of the multiple remote regions.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the first audio stream to form the modified first audio stream further comprises:
forming a first cancellation signal.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein generating the compensation signal further comprises:
determining the first cancellation signal at the first region to form a first region cancellation signal;
generating a first compensation signal as the compensation signal based on the first region cancellation signal;
designating the first compensation signal for projection via the first channel loudspeaker; and
acoustically combining the first compensation signal and the first region cancellation signal to reduce another effect of the first region cancellation signal.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
identifying a first compensation signal to be canceled at the second region;
modifying the first compensation signal to form a modified first compensation signal as a second cancellation signal;
designating the second cancellation signal for projection via the second channel loudspeaker to the second region; and
acoustically combining the second cancellation signal and the first compensation signal to reduce an effect of the first compensation signal at the second region.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
forming the second compensation signal to reduce an effect of the second cancellation signal at the first region.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a shared audio stream for reception at the first region and the second region;
mixing the shared audio stream with at least the first audio stream configured to propagate from the first channel loudspeaker and a second audio stream configured to propagate from the second channel loudspeaker to form a mixed shared audio stream; and
projecting the mixed shared audio stream to the first region and the second region.
14. The method of claim 1 , modifying the first audio stream to form a modified first audio stream further comprises:
inverting the first audio stream to form an inverted first audio stream; and
delaying the inverted first audio stream.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
attenuating the modified first audio stream.
16. An apparatus comprising:
a dual-mode audio stream generator including one or more processors, the dual-mode audio stream generator configured to generate a shared audio stream in a first mode and generate multiple audio streams in a second mode for transmission via a loudspeaker system including at least a first loudspeaker for a first audio stream and a second loudspeaker for a second audio stream, at least one audio stream is isolated from receiving at least another of the audio streams, the dual-mode audio stream generator comprising;
a crosstalk cancellation filter for the first audio stream comprising:
a modified audio signal generator configured to generate one or more cancellation signals based on the first audio stream for transmission via the second loudspeaker, the first audio stream being projected via the second loudspeaker, and forming recursively a plurality of compensation signals including one or more compensation signals to compensate for the presence of the one or more cancellation signals; and
a compensation signal generator configured to generate the one or more compensation signals to compensate for the one or more cancellation signals,
wherein the one or more compensation signals are generated recursively until a threshold magnitude of at least one of the one or more compensation signals is achieved,
wherein either the first mode or the second mode, or both are active.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising:
a region locator configured to determine locations of a first region and a second region to which the multiple audio streams are projected, and to update the locations of the first region and the second region automatically.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising:
a communication module configured to establish communications with one or more wearable devices to receive data representing the locations.