Method of rendering one or more captured audio soundfields to a listener
A computer implemented system for rendering captured audio soundfields to a listener ( 4 ) comprises apparatus ( 10 ) to deliver the audio soundfields to the listener ( 4 ). The delivery apparatus ( 10 ) delivers the audio soundfields to the listener ( 4 ) with first and second audio elements perceived by the listener ( 4 ) as emanating from first and second virtual source locations ( 1 ), respectively, and with the first audio element and/or the second audio element delivered to the listener ( 4 ) from a third virtual source location ( 3 ). The first virtual source location ( 1 ) and the second virtual source location ( 2 ) are perceived by the listener ( 4 ) as being located to the front of the listener ( 4 ), and the third virtual source location ( 3 ) is located to the rear or the side of the listener ( 4 ).
1. A system for rendering at least one soundfield to a listener via binaural headphones, wherein the at least one soundfield includes sound information and spatial location information related to at least one sound source, the system comprising:
a first apparatus for generating a number of virtual speaker feeds from each soundfield;
a second apparatus for transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into binaural headphone feeds; and
a third apparatus for rendering the at least one soundfield to the listener by feeding the binaural headphone feeds to the binaural headphones, wherein the binaural headphone feeds are configured to have the listener perceive each soundfield as originating from a region exclusively in front of the listener,
wherein said number of virtual speaker feeds includes N virtual speaker feeds configured for playback over N virtual speakers arranged around the listener in a horizontal plane, and
wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes transforming the N virtual speaker feeds into an array of virtual speakers feeds configured for playback over an array of virtual speakers arranged in a vertical plane located in front of the listener.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the system comprises apparatus to capture one or more audio soundfields.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the apparatus to capture one or more audio soundfields comprises one or more soundfield microphones.
4. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the system comprises apparatus to transmit one or more captured audio soundfields to a listener.
5. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the apparatus for delivering the one or more captured audio soundfields to a listener comprises a set of headphones.
6. A method of rendering at least one soundfield to a listener via binaural headphones, wherein the at least one soundfield includes sound information and spatial location information related to at least one sound source, the method comprising:
generating a number of virtual speaker feeds from each soundfield;
transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into binaural headphone feeds; and
rendering the at least one soundfield to the listener by feeding the binaural headphone feeds to the binaural headphones, wherein the binaural headphone feeds are configured to have the listener perceive each soundfield as originating from a region exclusively in front of the listener,
wherein said number of virtual speaker feeds includes N virtual speaker feeds configured for playback over N virtual speakers arranged around the listener in a horizontal plane, and
wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes transforming the N virtual speaker feeds into an array of virtual speakers feeds configured for playback over an array of virtual speakers arranged in a vertical plane located in front of the listener.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein at least two soundfields are rendered to the listener via said binaural headphone feeds, wherein said binaural headphone feeds are further configured to have the at least two soundfields perceived by the listener as originating from different regions, the different regions located exclusively in front of the listener.
8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the different regions are disjunct or partially overlapping.
9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one soundfield is an isotropic soundfield including said sound information and spatial location information.
10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein at least two soundfields are rendered to the listener via said binaural headphone feeds, and wherein all of the soundfields are isotropic soundfields.
11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the N virtual speakers are arranged at the circumference of a circle surrounding the listener, and the array of virtual speakers is arranged at the circumference of a circle located in the vertical plane.
12. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the array of virtual speaker feeds includes the N virtual speaker feeds and the array of virtual speakers includes the N virtual speakers.
13. The method according to claim 6 , wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes applying Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) to the number of virtual speaker feeds.
14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein said Head-Related Transfer Functions are adapted to obtain said perceived origin of each rendered soundfield being located exclusively in front of the listener.
15. The method according to claim 6 , wherein
the at least one soundfield is in encoded form, and
generating a number of virtual speaker feeds from the soundfield includes decoding said soundfield and generating the number of virtual speaker feeds from the decoded soundfield.
16. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the N virtual speaker feeds include at least one virtual speaker feed arranged behind the listener.
17. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the N virtual speaker feeds include at least one virtual speaker feed arranged behind the listener, and wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes transforming the at least one virtual speaker feed arranged behind the listener into an array element in the array arranged in front of the listener.
18. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the N virtual speaker feeds are arranged in a circle around the listener.
19. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the N virtual speaker feeds are arranged in a circle around the listener, and wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes transforming the N virtual speaker feeds are arranged in a circle in the horizontal plane around the listener into a circle in the vertical plane in front of the listener.
20. A non-transitory computer program product storing a computer program, the computer program when executed by a device including a processor and a memory performs a method of rendering at least one soundfield to a listener via binaural headphones, wherein the at least one soundfield includes sound information and spatial location information related to at least one sound source, the method comprising:
generating a number of virtual speaker feeds from each soundfield;
transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into binaural headphone feeds; and
rendering the at least one soundfield to the listener by feeding the binaural headphone feeds to the binaural headphones, wherein the binaural headphone feeds are configured to have the listener perceive each soundfield as originating from a region exclusively in front of the listener,
wherein said number of virtual speaker feeds includes N virtual speaker feeds configured for playback over N virtual speakers arranged around the listener in a horizontal plane, and
wherein transforming the number of virtual speaker feeds into the binaural headphone feeds includes transforming the N virtual speaker feeds into an array of virtual speakers feeds configured for playback over an array of virtual speakers arranged in a vertical plane located in front of the listener.