ARRANGEMENT FOR DISTRIBUTING HEAD RELATED TRANSFER FUNCTION FILTERS

1 . A method for distributing a head related transfer function (HRTF) filter comprising:

receiving a request for an audio session from a user device coupled to headphones;

determining whether a user associated with the user device has access to a HRTF filter service;

obtaining, in response to determining that the user has access, a headphone-specific HRTF filter based on an identification of the user and a model of the headphones, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a frequency response of the model of the headphones; and

transmitting the headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering an audio channel at the user device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the user has access includes determining whether the user has a subscription to the HRTF filter service.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein obtaining the headphone-specific HRTF filter includes

sending, in response to determining that the user has the subscription, a request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter to a filter server, wherein the request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter comprises the identification of the user and the model of the headphones, and

receiving the headphone-specific HRTF filter from the filter server, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter is unique to the user.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request identifies a type of an application requesting the audio session, and wherein obtaining the HRTF filter is based on the type of the application.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is for a game session, and further comprising:

determining that the request is from a game application; and

switching an audio mode of a game service to account for the headphone-specific filter being used to filter the audio channel at the user device.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user device is coupled to second headphones associated with a second user, and further comprising:

obtaining a second headphone-specific HRTF filter based on a second identification of the second user and a second model of the second headphones, wherein the second headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a second frequency response of the second headphones, and

transmitting the second headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering the audio channel at the user device.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting the identification of the user and the model of the headphones from the request for the audio session; and

generating a request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter including the extracted identification.

8 . An apparatus for distributing a head related transfer function (HRTF) filter comprising:

a data communication interface configured to communicate with a user device;

a memory configured to store instructions;

a processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to

receive a request for an audio session from the user device coupled to headphones,

determine whether a user associated with the user device has access to a HRTF filter service,

obtain, in response to determining that the user has access, a headphone-specific HRTF filter based on an identification of the user and a model of the headphones, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a frequency response of the model of the headphones, and

transmit the headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering an audio channel at the user device.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein determining whether the user has access includes determining whether the user has a subscription to the HRTF filter service.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein obtaining the headphone-specific HRTF filter includes

sending, in response to determining that the user has the subscription, a request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter to a filter server, wherein the request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter comprises the identification of the user and the model of the headphones, and

receiving the headphone-specific HRTF filter from the filter server, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter is unique to the user.

11 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the request identifies a type of an application requesting the audio session, and wherein obtaining the HRTF filter is based on the type of the application.

12 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the request is for a game session, and wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:

determining that the request is from a game application; and

switching an audio mode of a game service to account for the headphone-specific filter being used to filter the audio channel at the user device.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the user device is coupled to second headphones associated with a second user, and wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:

obtaining a second headphone-specific HRTF filter based on a second identification of the second user and a second model of the second headphones, wherein the second headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a second frequency response of the second headphones, and

transmitting the second headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering the audio channel at the user device.

14 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:

extract the identification of the user and the model of the headphones from the request for the audio session; and

generate a request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter including the extracted identification.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a data processing system, cause the data processing system to perform a method comprising:

receive a request for an audio session from a user device coupled to headphones;

determine whether a user associated with the user device has access to a HRTF filter service;

obtain, in response to determining that the user has access, a headphone-specific HRTF filter based on an identification of the user and a model of the model of the headphones, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a frequency response of the headphones; and

transmit the headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering an audio channel at the user device.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the user has access includes determining whether the user has a subscription to the HRTF filter service.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein obtaining the headphone-specific HRTF filter includes

sending, in response to determining that the user has the subscription, the request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter to a filter server, wherein a request for the headphone-specific HRTF filter comprises identification of the user and the model of the headphones, and

receiving the headphone-specific HRTF filter from the filter server, wherein the headphone-specific HRTF filter is unique to the user.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the request identifies a type of an application requesting the audio session, and wherein obtaining the HRTF filter is based on the type of the application.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the request is for a game session, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the request is from a game application; and

switching an audio mode of a game service to account for the headphone-specific filter being used to filter the audio channel at the user device.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the user device is coupled to second headphones associated with a second user, and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining a second headphone-specific HRTF filter based on a second identification of the second user and a second model of the second headphones, wherein the second headphone-specific HRTF filter takes into account a second frequency response of the second headphones, and

transmitting the second headphone-specific HRTF filter to the user device for filtering the audio channel at the user device.