KR20090008207A - Enhanced 3d sound - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for providing improved 3D sound experience to a user. The sound generation layer is customizable to allow the user and/or application provider to modify the internal rules the sound generation layer uses to render sounds, to amplify sounds that fall below a pre-set or user-set volume level, and to specifically amplify/soften certain sounds (such as game specific sounds like gunfire or footsteps), or specific frequencies of sounds. A graphical user interface can communicates with the sound generation layer to handle any or all the above, so that a lay user can easily adjust these settings without having to understand the underlying algorithms.

Description

ENHANCED 3D SOUND

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to the field of audio equipment, and more particularly to improving the user's experience of application software with three-dimensional sound.

Currently, software applications that extend the use of three-dimensional sound, such as computer games, typically use a number of common application program interfaces (such as Microsoft Corporaton's DirectSound3D® or open standard OpenAL) to communicate data. APIs "). For example, this data includes the location of the sound relative to the listener and includes direction, height, loudness, initial volume, distortion effects, and substantial audible noise itself. This data is transmitted to acoustic software / hardware that serves to substantially produce the sound ("sound generation layer", or "sound generation layer"). SGL includes interface APIs (eg DirectSound3D®), software drivers for sound cards / hardware, and sound generation hardware.

This SGL then coordinates the actual generation of physical sounds based on data received from the software application. Based on SGL's internal rules, the SGL may decide to reduce the volume of the sound (eg, firing sound) to simulate the sound that occurs when moving away from the listener's position. Alternatively, the SGL can be instructed to produce the same fire sound, but it is simulated at three different locations, so SGL is a speaker (potentially variable configuration), a volume and an equilibrium that produces three fire sounds. Will pick a point. Here, depending on how successful the SGL is, the listener will believe that these are three distinct fires fired from different locations, even though they are the same sound file.

Certain computer games, such as single-player shooters, have a wide range of information to tell players in the game, such as enemy footsteps approaching from behind, rockets flying over their heads, or enemies hiding behind a box but quietly reloading their weapons. Provide an audio signal. All of this information is important in a competitive situation, but the user cannot tailor the way in which such information is given to them. Of course, this information generally enhances the user's audio experience with the audio application or the user's audio experience with other audio applications.

Thus, it is desirable to enable users to use custom systems and methods. As a peripheral, you can adjust the volume control so that lower and farther sounds can be heard more clearly, or you can adjust the software / hardware equalizer controls to amplify the sound at specific frequencies. All methods are not particularly satisfactory. Adjusting the volume of the soft sound also means that the loud sound is controlled.

The enhanced three-dimensional sound experience can be provided with a number of components described below. Despite being able to run at the acoustic hardware level, these components are primarily intended to run through changes to SGL at the acoustic driver level:

1. Have the user modify the internal rules that SGL uses to provide sound (e.g., how much lower the farther sound goes).

2. Allows the user to modify sounds that fall below a preset volume level or set by the user, while at the same time keeping the sound at these levels unchanged.

3. Specifically, allow the user to amplify / reduce a particular sound (in the case of a game, such as a game-specific sound such as fire or footsteps) or a sound of a particular frequency.

4. The graphical user interface communicates with SGL to partially or fully adjust the above, so that a lay user can easily adjust this setting without having to understand the basic algorithm.

The above detailed description of the invention is not intended to represent every aspect or each embodiment of the invention. The following detailed description and drawings will describe aspects of the present invention and numerous embodiments.

As noted above, embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for providing an enhanced user experience for three-dimensional applications such as software.

Customizing the SGL

Customizing the internal rules that SGL uses to provide sound provides greater flexibility for the overall user experience. For example, the user can change the way to lower the farther sound more.

Typically, a software application, such as a game, sends positional information of a three-dimensional sound to the SGL, allowing the SGL to determine how the physical sound itself is generated. Different SGLs by default treat this information differently. Another combination of APIs, the acoustic driver and the acoustic hardware, can produce sounds that are far from the listener's position at completely different volumes.

For example, on Creative® soundcards that run both DirectSound3D® and OpenAL APIs, if SGL with the DirectSound3D® API is used, faraway sounds will be lower or sometimes less than when running OpenAL SGL. It does not occur. In this example, DirectSound3D® SGL efficiently determines the "cut off" sound corresponding to the "maximum audible range", which is arbitrarily set when the listener is too far away to hear. This may be due to the fact that the number of sounds generated simultaneously (to reduce the load on the acoustic hardware or for other performance reasons) is reduced or due to reality. In any case, these limits are already arbitrarily determined and are currently not adjustable.

Changes in the sound driver or hardware level of SGL allow the user to determine what "distance" is the maximum audible range for the various volume sounds. Thus, when the software application sends 3D sound data, the user can adjust whether or not such sound is actually produced, and the volume is gradually weakened based on the distance. In order for the values used to follow the user's preferences without having to expose these algorithms to the ray user, the specific algorithm for calculating this decay is adjusted based on the user's input. This process is particularly useful for games that are typically very low, such as distant footsteps or gunshots with silencers. In fact, this change allows the user to “claim” that the user can cause the sound to be generated by SGL if the game provides that sound is useful (by providing acoustic 3D data to the API). To be specified. When connected to a GUI (such as those described in 4, but not required), these changes can provide ray users with greater flexibility and competitive advantages over how he or she receives 3-D audio signals. That is, he or she can hear sounds in a wider range compared to competing products with unadjustable acoustic solutions with sounds set arbitrarily low; Since producing too much sound at one time adversely affects software application performance due to CPU load, tunability has the added advantage of tweaking an optimal "range". This method can be combined with all other methods described herein.

Amplification of Soft Sounds

The SGL can also be modified to amplify a sound that falls below a preset or user set volume level, while at the same time keeping the sound above the preset or user set volume level unchanged. In order for the viewer to be able to hear low sound without having to adjust the volume to such an extent that loud sounds like explosions are too loud (or disturbing the neighbors), the above process is performed on a DVD player where very low sound such as dialogue is amplified. It is similar to known procedures such as normalization used.

The progress here is to tweak the amount of amplification applied by the user and at what point this amplification should occur. Any sound or all sounds preset or below the user-set volume will be amplified to another preset or user-set volume (for example, all sounds dropped below -90 db will be amplified to -85 db arbitrarily). being)

Ambient sounds that are not typically treated as three-dimensional sounds (wind blowing, such as soundtracks in games) can be selectively rejected from this selective amplification (ambient sounds do not include three-dimensional sounds and are "traditional"). These ambient sounds often do not contain important information and can be distributed if they are amplified (for example, three-dimensional foot sounds are amplified, but wind and sound The same "ambient" sound is kept very low). This method can be combined with all other methods described herein.

Amplification of Selected Sounds

In addition, SGL can identify specific sounds (which are efficient software files), and SGL lists these sounds in grades (e.g., amplifies all "gunshot.wav" sounds by 1.5 times) or 2. The SGL can be modified to selectively amplify to a set minimum sound that is set (e.g., amplify all "gunshot.wav" sounds to -85 db if it falls below -90 db). More generally, SGL allows a specific frequency or range of frequencies to apply the rule, and the results are modified to have similar but less granularity. Here, if the software application decides that a particular sound is very low (for example, the sound of a muffled gun), the user can decide to produce this sound at a higher volume, which is for him or her in a competitive environment. It has the advantage of providing a more favorable position than the enemy.

Improvements (although these improvements may not be effective for specific frequency amplification) are the user's controllability and selective amplification of specific sounds.

Again, as in 2, ambient sound can be selectively rejected in this process. This method can be combined with all other methods described herein.

Graphical User Interface

In a preferred embodiment, the foregoing process can be adjusted via a graphical user interface at the acoustic driver level of SGL. Conventional sound card drivers allow the speaker to be closer to the listener when testing the speaker or to determine the speaker's location (e.g., when physical constraints make it practical or impossible to adjust the physical speaker's position substantially). Simulation to move further away or at different angles). This implementation is different in that it is handled through the GUI, and among other improvements, the three-dimensional sound involves controlling the "range" in the virtual environment generated by the SGL. In addition, this process may take into account acoustic-specific selection.

In one embodiment, the GUI includes an interface such as a "radar". The listener appears graphically in the center of the ring, and by dragging it to an input device such as a mouse, the ring can be enlarged or reduced by entering a higher or lower number with an individual graphics slider or in other similar ways as in 4b. . The ring may indicate several things:

Iii. A distance by which the ring is enlarged or reduced to produce a random acoustic low cutoff sound as described in 1, instructing the listener to instruct SGL to set this distance further or closer to the listener's relative position. This graphically shows that the user's listening range is "increased" or "decreased".

Ii. The volume at which low sound must be amplified as described above. By enlarging or reducing the ring, the user increases or decreases the level at which sound falling below a certain level is amplified. It also conveys the user's listening range as "increased" or "decreased".

Iii. Both ⅰ and ii and other similar implementations allow the user to judge objects in a three-dimensional environment by the current video driver (shorter distances improve performance, because larger objects are less distorted). Such as to enhance the viewable range), to convey the willingness to increase or decrease the user's listening range.

In yet another embodiment, the GUI includes a "counter" interface. In such an embodiment, the GUI may be a virtual number that the listener can hear in virtual units (or without units) of numbers rather than ring sliders, for example in an implementation similar to (i) and (iii). box, which may be described as "feet". This counter may be adjusted via a slider, or by the user tapping the keyboard, or by another similar input method. For example, this method can be combined with the method described above, so that the larger the ring, the number of counters increases, and the smaller the ring, the number of counters decreases. This allows the user to contrast his / her listening range / distance with numbers.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one or more specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, many of the advantages of the present invention have been discussed in the context of games. Other applications of the invention are clearly possible, such as simulations, movies and other audiovisual entertainment media, music and other audio, and the like.

Each of these embodiments and the obvious modifications are considered to be included in the scope and spirit of the claimed invention, which is indicated in the following claims.

Claims (14)

As a custom sound generating layer for digital computing devices, An application program interface; Sound generating hardware; A software driver for the sound generating hardware; The software driver is customized by a user. The method of claim 1, The software driver includes a set of parameters used by the sound generating layer to provide sound, and the customized software driver is configured to allow the user to modify the set of parameters. The method of claim 2, The customized software driver is configured to allow the user to modify the series of parameters to modify the degree of amplitude reduction for the sound associated with the distance measurement. The method of claim 2, The customized software driver is configured to allow the user to modify the series of parameters to select whether a particular sound is amplified. The method of claim 2, The customized software driver is configured to allow the user to modify the series of parameters to select whether the volume of a particular sound is to be reduced. The method of claim 2, The customized software driver is configured to enable the user to modify the series of parameters to select whether the series of specific sounds is amplified. The method of claim 2, The customized software driver is configured to allow the user to modify the series of parameters to select whether the volume of the series of specific sounds is reduced. The method of claim 3, And a graphical user interface that can be modified by a user. The method of claim 8, And the graphical user interface includes a radar interface, wherein the user is graphically displayed at the center of the ring, which can be graphically enlarged or reduced using an input device. The method of claim 8, The graphical user interface includes a counter, wherein the counter corresponds to a distance the user wants to hear sound within a range of volume or amplification range. As a way to provide the user with an enhanced three-dimensional audio experience, An application program interface; Sound generating hardware; A software driver for the sound generation hardware, the software driver being customizable by a user and comprising a set of parameters used by the sound generation layer to provide sound. Making a step; Customizing the software driver based on content input by the user. The method of claim 11, The method further comprises the step of modifying a series of parameters based on the user input. The method of claim 12, Said modifying comprises modifying the extent of amplitude reduction for the sound associated with the distance measurement. The method of claim 12, Wherein said modifying comprises selecting whether or not a particular sound is amplified.