Microsoft Applies for Patent on Augmented Reality, 3-D Audio

[Wired]

…

In a recently published patent application, the company describes technology that could solve the “outside the sweet spot” conundrum, providing listeners with a polished 3-D audio experience no matter where they’re sitting, or even standing.

Published Thursday, Microsoft’s patent application describes augmented-reality technology that tracks a user with a “depth camera system” and delivers content-accurate, 3-D audio to the listener, regardless of his or her position in a room. The system collects room and listener position data to deliver specific audio cues — instructions from virtual team mates, gunshots, chirping birds, whatever — inside a user’s unique (and often fluid) soundscape.

This is particularly relevant for Xbox Kinect games, which entail a lot of movement among players. In these games, players continually shift their head and body orientation, which can cause havoc for positional sound accuracy.

See the original post here: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/tag/3d-audio/