The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 23, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 03, 1996
Ian S Small, Cupertino, CA (US);
Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
In a system for describing directional sounds in virtual environments, a user creates a sound projection map that constitutes a two-dimensional array of sound intensities for each sound source associated with the virtual environment. At run-time, when a user selects a particular view for a scene in the environment, a hearing area corresponding to that view is calculated. The average intensity for each sound represented within the hearing area is determined from the array, to establish a level at which the sound is to be played. The sound associated with the sound source is then reproduced from a sound track at the determined level, to produce an output sound that creates a sense of place within the environment.