KR20060081966A - Stereotactic Positioning System for Teleconferencing - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sound image positioning system for efficient multi-party online teleconferencing and teleconference.

The present invention provides an input unit for receiving a voice signal from a participant in a teleconference, a processor for sound-positioning the voice signal of each participant in a direction corresponding to the participant on a virtual conference room screen, and a stereo headphone / speaker. It is composed of an output part that adds up the signals. The present invention is a technique for widely distributing voice / sound signals corresponding to a conversation between participants in a virtual space in an arbitrary direction, so that the speaker's voice signals are not randomly mixed during the meeting, so that the user speaks. Allows attendees to listen to the entire conference in a separate form, while simultaneously listening to other attendees' comments and conversations between other attendees, naturally, without interrupting the main conversation, even during the user-to-attendee main conversation. Provide a technique to enable this.

Teleconference, Remote Video Conferencing, Audio, Audio

Description

SOUND IMAGE LOCATION SYSTEM IN TELECONFERENCE SYSTEM}

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a sound image positioning system for teleconference of the present invention;

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a virtual conference hall screen to which the present invention is applied.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: input unit 20: sound image orientation processing unit

30: output unit 40: system control unit

50: user interface unit 60: display unit

The present invention relates to a sound image positioning system for efficient multi-party online teleconferencing and teleconference. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for widely distributing voice / sound signals corresponding to a conversation between participants in a virtual space in an arbitrary direction so that the user does not mix the signals irregularly. Allows attendees to listen to the entire conference in a separate form, while simultaneously listening to other attendees' comments and conversations between other attendees, naturally, without interrupting the main conversation, even during the user-to-attendee main conversation. Is a technique that makes it possible.

Teleconference is an information and communication service that allows you to have a meeting through remote communication as if you were in the same place with people in other places. This eliminates barriers such as wasting travel time and delaying decision making, enabling attendees to be more productive and to use their time efficiently.

In addition, teleconferencing systems not only facilitate data exchange during meetings, but also enable multi-party conferences by calling multiple people without a shift.

Recently, the teleconference has been developed into a multi-party video conferencing system that enables meetings while watching the video of the attendees due to the development of various service systems such as communication. And smooth transmission of video information and audio information is required.

Among them, the voice information is relatively changed compared to the video information and the information on the attendees, and the voice information generated from the attendees at the meeting of three or more people including the user is divided into speakers well-known to the user. You may not be able to listen.

That is, it is very difficult to face which speaker speaks because the voice signal generated by each participant in a conference of three or more persons is only two-dimensional communication from the user's point of view. For example, suppose that attendees B and C, including attendees themselves A, attended a teleconference. In this case, since video conference is conducted based on communication and A / V interface means, participants A, B, and C face to face, exchange opinions and speak in a three-dimensional space (real space). Listening to voice is a big difference. In a real-world meeting, attendee A is in a state where the other attendees B and C are clearly identified and recognized in the physical space, so when attendee B speaks, attendee A is confident that B is speaking. It can be recognized based on the physical positional relationship between the speaker and the speaker, but in the teleconference, which is a virtual space, such physical recognition is excluded. It is almost impossible to perceive in the senses.

According to the present invention, in a teleconference system, a sound image of a participant who is felt by a user is positioned at a different location for each participant, thereby allowing the user to listen to the entire conference content with the speaker (attendee) well separated. The objective is to provide a stereophonic system for teleconferencing.

According to the present invention, a participant is placed in a different virtual space for each participant by placing a sound image of the participant's voice and sound that is felt after a user using the system receives through the ear. To prevent speeches from being scrambled to be heard in an irregular mix and to listen naturally to other participants' speeches and conversations between other participants during the main conversation of the user versus one participant, at the same time, without disturbing the main conversation. The objective is to provide a stereophonic system for a teleconference.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an audio image positioning system for a teleconference includes: an input signal processing means for receiving and processing a voice / sound signal of a participant of a remote conference; and a voice / sound signal of each of the input participant. Sound location processing means for arranging each participant in a different virtual space, and output signal processing means for outputting a voice / sound signal for each of the sound location processed participants to the user. It is done.

In addition, in the audio positioning system for teleconference of the present invention, the voice / sound signal generated from the attendees is positioned to have a different direction for each participant based on the user.

In addition, in the audio positioning system for teleconference of the present invention, the voice / sound signal generated from the participants corresponds to the position and direction between the user and the participant on the virtual conference room screen where each participant is arranged based on the user. The sound image is arranged so as to.

In addition, in the audio positioning system for teleconference of the present invention, the voice / sound signal generated from the participants corresponds to the position and direction between the user and the participant on the virtual conference room screen where each participant is arranged based on the user. However, when the position of the attendees is changed on the virtual conference hall screen, the stereophonic position of the attendees is adjusted accordingly.

In addition, in the audio location system for the teleconference of the present invention, if the user selects one video on the virtual conference room screen where each participant is arranged, a 1: 1 private or secret conversation with the selected participant is established, in this case, The sound image of the selected counterpart's voice / sound is positioned at the center of the user's head, and the sound image of the voice / sound from the other participants is positioned to have the other direction.

In addition, in the audio positioning system for teleconferencing of the present invention, the audio positioning process by the audio positioning process means is performed by differently controlling the degree of delay and / or level difference of the signal for each left / right channel. .

In addition, in the image positioning system for teleconferencing of the present invention, the image positioning processing by the image positioning processing means is based on a method of synergistically integrating a space transfer function corresponding to a direction to be positioned with a signal of a left / right channel. It is characterized by.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of an audio stereotactic system for a teleconference of the present invention configured as described above.

First, the sound image position proposed in the present invention will be described.

When a sound generated from a sound source at an arbitrary position in the space propagates through the space and is perceived by the person, the person can hear the sound and recognize the direction of sound generation. At this time, the listener's perception of the sound generated from the sound source is called a sound image, which includes the propagation direction and distance of the sound signal.

The reason that a person can hear a sound and recognize a direction is due to the difference in level between the two ears of the sound signal incident to the ear and the time difference when the same signal reaches each ear.

The sound image positioning system of the present invention is a system for generating a sound image at a desired position (direction) by forcibly giving a difference in level and arrival time to a portion corresponding to the left / right channel with respect to the sound generated from the sound source. .

In general, when the sound image is positioned correctly, the sound image position of the present invention is provided by giving a difference of a predetermined level or arrival time for each direction, or applying a spatial transfer function measured in advance to various directions to a sound signal. The system is implemented.

Accordingly, the audio stereotactic system for teleconference of the present invention is to position the audio image for the voice (including the sound signal, as described below) from the participants to have a different direction for each participant. In other words, the user who is using the teleconference system receives the voice of the participant's voice that will be felt after hearing through the ear, and the participant's voice is placed in a different virtual space for each participant. Do not mix the sound. This allows the user to listen to the entire conference in speaker-delimited form.

At this time, the direction of the sound image generated by the participants corresponds to the position and direction of each participant's image on the virtual conference room screen.

In addition, if the user selects one video from the participants in the virtual conference room screen, 1: 1 chat or secret chat can be made. And during the 1: 1 main conversation, the image of the participant's voice is placed in the center of the head, and the voice of the other participant is positioned at a predetermined position in another virtual space so as to have a different direction. Maximize the assurance of the dialogue environment and allow for natural clean-up at the same time without disturbing the main conversation.

1 shows a configuration of an audio stereotactic system embodiment for teleconferencing according to the present invention. The audio stereotactic system for teleconferencing of the present invention is a part corresponding to the transmission of voice information of the teleconferencing system, which is divided into input units 10 for receiving a voice signal from the participants and corresponding to the participants on the virtual conference room screen. Orientation processing unit 20 for the audio image positioning of the voice signal of each participant in the direction, and the output unit 30 that is the portion to combine the signals to output to the stereo headphones / speakers, here for system control Teleconference system is implemented including a system control unit 40, a user interface unit 50, and a display unit 60.

The input unit 10 includes A / D converters 11, 12, and 13 for converting voice / sound signals input through microphones from each participant into digital signals, and the sound image processing unit 20 includes: And a positioning processor (211,212), (221,222), (231,232) for adding a difference in signal delay or level of each of the left and right channels to the digital voice / sound signal inputted from each participant. 30) adders 31 and 32 for adding the stereotactic voice / sound signals for each participant, and convert the added audio stereotactic voice / sound signals into analog signals and output them to a speaker or a headphone. D / A converters 33 and 34.

The input unit 10 converts the analog voice signal inputted through the microphone from each participant into a digital signal through the A / D converters 11, 12, 13.

The image positioning processor 20 performs different positioning processing for each participant according to the size of the direction in which the sound image is to be positioned for each participant, and the direction to be positioned is different for each participant. It corresponds to the video position of the user and the attendee on the virtual conference room screen.

This is implemented by different delay and level adjustments for each participant by each of the sound image processing processors 211, 212, 221, 222, and 231, 232.

For example, with respect to the audio / audio signal of the participant 1, the left channel positioning processor (L positioning) 211 adjusts the degree of signal delay and signal level for the left channel signal, and together with the right channel positioning. The processor (R-position) 212 performs the audio position of participant 1 separately from other participants by adjusting the degree of signal delay and the signal level for the right channel signal.

That is, the stereotactic processing in the present invention is generally applied by varying the degree of delay and level of the signal for each left / right channel, or a spatial transfer function (HRTF) corresponding to the direction to be precisely positioned. The method uses the method of synergistic integration with the signals of the left and right channels.

In this way, the voice / sound signals of which the sound position is formed for each participant are finally summed by the left / right channels in the output unit 30, and then converted into analog voice signals and sent to an output device such as a headphone or a speaker. In other words, the first adder 31 adds the left channel signals of the participants whose sound is located to the first D / A converter 33 and converts the sound or sound signals of the left channel to analog signals, thereby converting the speakers or headphones. The second adder 32 adds the right channel signal of the participants whose sound is located to the second D / A converter 34 to convert the sound or sound signal of the right channel into an analog signal. It can be converted and output to speakers or headphones.

However, as described above, in the teleconference system according to the present invention, the location and the sound image of the participants in the virtual conference room screen are processed to correspond to each other. Therefore, the system controller 40 has location information of each participant in the virtual space on the virtual conference room screen (see FIG. 2) displayed on the display unit 60, and the sound control system 20 sends the corresponding participant to the corresponding participant. Control of the stereotactic processing of voice / sound signals.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, the attendee 1 is located on the left side of the user, the attendee 2 is located in front of the user, and the attendee 3 is located on the right side of the user. have. Therefore, the audio / sound signal of the participant 1 is delayed and the left / right of the corresponding voice / sound signal as the left side of the user in the audio positioning process unit 20 corresponding to the position of the participant 1, the participant 2, and the participant 3 in the virtual space. The level of the right channel is given, and the participant 2's voice / sound signal gives the delay of the corresponding voice / sound signal and the level of the left / right channel as if it is in front of the user. As shown on the right, the delay of the corresponding voice / sound signal and the level difference between the left and right channels are given.

In addition, when the user changes the location of the attendees using the user interface unit 50, the system control unit 40 changes and displays the location of the corresponding participant image displayed on the display unit 60, and the sound localization processor 20 ) Locates the participant's image to the changed location based on the relevant location information.

When the video of a specific participant is selected using the user interface unit 50, a voice of the selected counterpart's voice / sound may be formed so that a 1: 1 main conversation (or secret conversation) with the user is performed. It is placed in the center and the sound image of the voices / sounds from the rest of the participants is positioned in the other direction, thereby ensuring a 1: 1 main conversation environment.

According to the present invention, the voice signals from each participant in the teleconferencing system are subjected to sound image positioning, so that the meanings of the respective speech contents can be prevented from being lost and lost when the voice signals that can be generated at the same time are mixed and listened to. It allows the user to feel more realistic like being in a real conference room.

Claims (7)

Input signal processing means for receiving and processing voice / sound signals of the participants in the teleconference, and audio-location processing means for disposing voice / sound signals of each of the input participants in different virtual spaces for each of the participants And an output signal processing means for outputting a voice / sound signal for each of the attendees who have been processed. The system of claim 1, wherein the voice / sound signal generated from the attendees is positioned to have different directions for each attendee based on a user. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice / sound signal generated from the attendees is arranged so that the respective attendees are arranged so as to correspond to the position and direction between the user and the attendees on the virtual conference room screen in which each attendee is arranged. A stereophonic positioning system for teleconferencing featuring. The virtual conference hall of claim 1, wherein a voice / sound signal generated from the attendees corresponds to a position and a direction between a user and a participant on a virtual conference hall screen in which each participant is arranged based on a user. If a participant's position on the screen is changed, the stereophonic position system for the teleconference, characterized in that it is also adjusted accordingly. The method of claim 1, wherein when a user selects one video on a virtual conference room screen in which each participant is arranged, 1: 1 or private conversation with the selected participant is set, and the voice / sound of the selected counterpart in this case is selected. A stereophonic stereotactic system for teleconferencing, wherein the tonal phase is positioned in the center of the user's head and the tonal phase of the voice / sound from the remaining participants is in the other direction. 2. The sound image positioning system for teleconference according to claim 1, wherein the sound image positioning processing by the sound image positioning processing means controls the degree of delay and / or level difference of the signal for each of the left and right channels differently. . 2. The teleconferencing process according to claim 1, wherein the sound image positioning processing by the sound image positioning processing means is based on a method of synergistically integrating a space transfer function corresponding to a direction to be positioned with signals of left and right channels. Acoustic stereotactic system for

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