Generation and playback of near-field audio content

1. An audio playback method comprising:

receiving a plurality of audio signals including a left surround channel and a right surround channel;

playing back the audio signals using a plurality of far-field loudspeakers distributed around a space having a plurality of listener positions, wherein the left and right surround channels are played back by a pair of far-field loudspeakers arranged at opposite sides of the space having the plurality of listener positions;

obtaining an audio component coinciding with or approximating audio content common to the left and right surround channels; and

playing back the audio component at least using a pair of near-field transducers arranged at one of the listener positions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio component is obtained by receiving the audio component in addition to the plurality of audio signals.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio component is obtained by extracting the audio component from the left and right surround channels.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

estimating a propagation time from the pair of far-field loudspeakers to the listener position at which the near-field transducers are arranged; and

determining, based on the estimated propagation time, a delay to be applied to the playback of the audio component using the near-field transducers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

high pass filtering audio content to be played back using the near-field transducers.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining dialogue audio content associated with at least one of the received audio signals; and

playing back the dialogue audio content using one or more near-field transducers arranged at a listener position.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dialogue audio content is obtained by receiving the dialogue audio content in addition to the plurality of audio signals.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the dialogue audio content is obtained by applying a dialogue extraction algorithm to at least one of the received audio signals.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the dialogue audio content is associated with an audio signal played back by a center far-field loudspeaker, the method further comprising:

estimating a propagation time from the center far-field loudspeaker to the listener position at which the one or more near-field transducers are arranged; and

determining, based on the estimated propagation time, a delay to be applied to the playback of the dialogue audio content using the one or more near-field transducers.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

applying a gain to the dialogue audio content prior to playing it back using the one or more near-field transducers; and

subsequently increasing the gain in response to input from a user.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the gain is frequency-dependent, wherein the gain is increased more for a first frequency range than for a second frequency range, and wherein the first frequency range comprises higher frequencies than the second frequency range.

12. The method of claim 6 , comprising:

estimating a power ratio between the dialogue audio content and audio content played back using the far-field loudspeakers or audio content played back using the pair of near-field transducers or a combination of audio content played back using the far-field loudspeakers and audio content played back using the pair of near-field transducers; and

adjusting, based on the estimated power ratio, a gain applied to the dialogue audio content prior to playing it back using the one or more near-field transducers.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received plurality of audio signals includes a channel comprising first dialogue audio content, and wherein said channel is played back using a far-field loudspeaker, the method comprising:

playing back an audio signal using said far-field loudspeaker;

capturing the played back audio signal at the listener position at which the one or more near-field transducers are arranged; and

adjusting, based on the captured audio signal, an adaptive filter for approximating playback at said far-field loudspeaker as perceived at the listener position at which the one or more near-field transducers are arranged;

obtaining the first dialogue audio content by applying a dialogue extraction algorithm to said channel or by receiving the first dialogue audio content in addition to the received plurality of audio signals;

applying the adaptive filter to the obtained first dialogue audio content;

generating second dialogue audio content based on the filtered first dialogue audio content; and

playing back the second dialogue audio content using the one or more near-field transducers for at least partially cancelling, at the listener position at which the one or more near-field transducers are arranged, the first dialogue audio content played back using said far-field loudspeaker.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

playing back third dialogue audio content using the one or more near-field transducers.

15. The method of claim 6 , comprising:

forming a linear combination of at least the audio component and the dialogue audio content; and

playing back the linear combination using the pair of near-field transducers.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an object-based audio signal;

rendering the object-based audio signal with respect to one or more of the far-field loudspeakers;

playing back the rendered object-based audio signal using the one or more far-field loudspeakers;

obtaining a near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal; and

playing back the near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal using the pair of near-field transducers.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal is obtained by receiving the near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal is obtained by rendering the object-based audio signal with respect to the pair of near-field transducers.

19. The method of claim 16 , comprising:

estimating a propagation time from the one or more far-field loudspeakers to the listener position at which the pair of near-field transducers is arranged; and

determining, based on the estimated propagation time, a delay to be applied to the playback of the near-field rendered version of the object-based audio signal using the pair of near-field transducers.

20. The method of claim 1 , comprising, for a given listener position:

playing back a test signal using a far-field loudspeaker and/or a near-field transducer arranged at the listener position;

measuring a power level of the played back test signal at the listener position; and

calibrating an output level of the near-field transducer relative to an output level of one or more far-field loudspeakers based on the measured power level.

21. The method of claim 1 , comprising, for a given listener position:

playing back a test signal using a far-field loudspeaker and/or a near-field transducer arranged at the listener position;

capturing the played back test signal at the listener position; and

calibrating a frequency response of the near-field transducer relative to a frequency response of one or more far-field loudspeakers based on the captured test signal.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein a ratio between a magnitude of the frequency response of the near-field transducer and a magnitude of the frequency response of the one or more far-field loudspeakers is calibrated to be higher for a first frequency range than for a second frequency range, wherein the first frequency range comprises higher frequencies than the second frequency range.

23. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

in response to a combined power level of audio content played back using the far-field loudspeakers being below a first threshold, amplifying audio content to be played back using the pair of near-field transducers; and/or

in response to a combined power level of audio content played back using the far-field loudspeakers exceeding a second threshold, attenuating audio content to be played back using the pair of near-field transducers.

24. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

obtaining, based on at least one of the received audio signals, audio content below a frequency threshold; and

feeding the obtained audio content to a vibratory excitation device mechanically coupled to a part of a seat located at the listener position at which the pair of near-field transducers is arranged.

25. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of claim 1 .

26. An audio playback system comprising:

a plurality of far-field loudspeakers distributed around a space having a plurality of listener positions, the plurality of loudspeakers including a pair of far-field loudspeakers arranged at opposite sides of the space having the plurality of listener positions; and

a pair of near-field transducers arranged at one of the listener positions;

wherein the audio playback system is configured to:

receive a plurality of audio signals including a left surround channel and a right surround channel;

play back the audio signals using the far-field loudspeakers, wherein the left and right surround channels are played back using said pair of far-field loudspeakers;

obtain an audio component coinciding with or approximating audio content common to the left and right surround channels; and

play back the audio component using the near-field transducers.