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:
Aug. 25, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 24, 1997
Paul Nigel Wood, Glendale, CA (US);
Laura Mercs, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Paul Embree, Irvine, CA (US);
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Culver City, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for providing audible cues that enable a listener to identify locations of origins of sounds. In one embodiment, a front and rear signal are copies of an input signal. The rear signal is modified by application of a modified head related transfer function which is the difference between the front and rear head related transfer functions. Copies are then made of the front signal and the modified rear signal, one copy of each associated with a first channel and one copy of each associated with a second channel. Front/rear cues are applied by delaying one of the rear signals or inverting the phase of one of the rear signals. Volume levels are then modified according to the location of the sound source. Locations of sound sources, including sources location behind the user are therefore audibly distinguished. Thus, in an interactive environment, such as a video game environment, the sounds generated by moving objects can be readily modified by simply modifying the volume levels.