Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation

Telstra Corporation Limited

University of Wollongong

Paul Andrew Boustead

Farzad Safaei

Gary Spittle

Craig Johnston

Vinh Nguyen

Mehran Dowlatshahi

Bruce Raymond Ratcliff

A method and system for using spatial audio in a virtual environment, which is capable of running on portable devices with limited processing power, and utilizing low bandwidth communication connections. The system identifies a first avatar in the virtual environment; and determines if the avatar satisfies a reuse criterion, which will enable the system to reuse the audio information which has been generated for a second avatar in the virtual environment for the first avatar.

Immersive audio communication

The present document relates to methods and systems for setting up and managing two-dimensional or three-dimensional scenes for audio conferences. A conference controller () configured to place a plurality of upstream audio signals () associated with a plurality of conference participants within a 2D or 3D conference scene to be rendered to a listener () is described. The conference controller () is configured to set up a X-point conference scene with X different spatial talker locations () within the conference scene; assign the plurality of upstream audio signals () to respective ones of the talker locations (); determine a degree of activity of the plurality of upstream audio signals (); determine a dominant one of the plurality of upstream audio signals (); and emphasize the dominant upstream audio signal ().

Schemes for emphasizing talkers in a 2D or 3D conference scene

The present document relates to methods and systems for setting up and managing two-dimensional or three-dimensional scenes for audio conferences. A conference controller () configured to place L upstream audio signals () within a 2D or 3D conference scene to be rendered to a listener () is described. The conference controller () is configured to set up a X-point conference scene; assign L upstream audio signals () to X talker locations (); determine a maximum number N of downstream audio signals () to be transmitted to the listener (); determine N downstream audio signals () from the L assigned upstream audio signals (); determine N updated talker locations for the N downstream audio signals (); and generate metadata identifying the updated talker locations and enabling an audio processing unit () to generate a spatialized audio signal.

Clustering of audio streams in a 2D / 3D conference scene

An apparatus for creating an audio scene for an avatar in a virtual environment, the apparatus comprising: an audio processor operable to create a weighted audio stream that comprises audio from an object located in a portion of a hearing range of the avatar; and associating means operable to associate the weighted audio stream with a datum that represents a location of the portion of the hearing range in the virtual environment, wherein the weighted audio stream and the datum represent the audio scene. The weighted Audio stream also includes an unweighted audio stream that comprises audio from another object located in the hearing range of the avatar.

Apparatuses and methods for use in creating an audio scene for an avatar by utilizing weighted and unweighted audio streams attributed to plural objects

A device for routing a unit of data in a network, the device comprising a processing means that is operable to: determine an identity of a first path in the network that was used to transfer the unit of data; identify a second path in the network based on the identity of the first path; and forward the unit of data over the second path to thereby route the unit of data in the network.

Devices and methods for routing a unit of data in a network

An audio scene is created for an avatar in a virtual environment of multiple avatars. A link structure is created between the avatars. An audio scene is created for each avatar, based on an avatar's associations with other linked avatars.

Apparatuses and methods for use in creating an audio scene

An active node of a communications network includes a forwarding component for forwarding a packet of an active application, a processor for processing the packet, and a forwarding control component for modifying path data associated with the packet, based on the processing. The forwarding component can forward said packet directly to the network or via the processor. The processing can include executing code contained within the packet, and/or executing code to process application data in the packet. The path data can include the MPLS label stack of the packet and/or MPLS tables of the forwarding component. To allow processing based on multiple labels of a packet, the forwarding component can include a loopback connection between its input and output ports.

Growing community of inventors

Fairlight, Australia

Paul Andrew Boustead