Apparatus for processing an audio scene representing a sound field, the audio scene comprising information on a transport signal and a set of parameters. The apparatus comprising an output interface for generating a processed audio scene using the set of parameters and the information on the transport signal, wherein the output interface is configured to generate a raw representation of two or more channels using the set of parameters and the transport signal and a multichannel enhancer for generating an enhancement representation of the two or more channels using the transport signal, and a signal combiner for combining the raw representation of the two or more channels and the enhancement representation of the two or more channels to obtain the processed audio scene.

An apparatus for encoding a plurality of audio objects and related metadata indicating direction information on the plurality of audio objects has: a downmixer for downmixing the plurality of audio objects to obtain one or more transport channels; a transport channel encoder for encoding one or more transport channels to obtain one or more encoded transport channels; and an output interface for outputting an encoded audio signal comprising the one or more encoded transport channels, wherein the downmixer is configured to downmix the plurality of audio objects in response to the direction information on the plurality of audio objects.

There is disclosed inter alia a method for rendering a virtual reality audio scene comprising: receiving information defining a limited area audio scene within the virtual reality audio scene (301), wherein the limited area audio scene defines a sub space of the virtual reality audio scene (304), wherein the information defines the limited area audio scene by defining an extent a user can move within the virtual audio scene; determining if the movement of the user within the limited area audio scene meets a condition of an audio scene change (302); and processing the audio scene change when the movement of the user within the limited area audio scene meets the condition of an audio scene change (306).

A method for determining subject specific digital audio data can comprise providing at least one respective audio signal input to each of a plurality of loudspeaker elements supported in a predetermined spatial relationship, in which respective locations of an effective point source of each loudspeaker element all lie in an imaginary surface that at least partially contains a spatial region where at least one aural cavity of a subject is located, thereby providing a distance between each respective location and each aural cavity of less than 1.5 meters. Responsive to at least one audio signal output from at least one of the loudspeaker elements, via at least one microphone element located at or within an aural cavity of the subject, respective subject specific audio data output is provided and is processed via an audio processing system, the subject specific audio data output, thereby providing subject specific digital audio data.

[Object] To provide a new guide method in voice guidance that is capable of coping with even inaccuracy in an obtained user orientation.

[Solving Means] An information processing apparatus according to the present technology includes a control unit. The control unit predicts a user orientation, performs voice guidance that guides a user to a destination on a route to the destination on the basis of the predicted user orientation, calculates a degree of reliability of the user orientation, and switches a method for guiding the user in the voice guidance on the basis of the degree of reliability.

An apparatus for rendering a sound scene having reflection objects and a sound source at a sound source position, includes: a geometry data provider for providing an analysis of the reflection objects of the sound scene to determine a reflection object represented by a first polygon and a second adjacent polygon having associated a first image source position for the first polygon and a second image source position for the second polygon, wherein the first and second image source positions result in a sequence including a first visible zone related to the first image source position, an invisible zone and a second visible zone related to the second image source position; an image source position generator for generating an additional image source position such that the additional image source position is placed between the first image source position and the second image source position; and a sound renderer for rendering the sound source at the sound source position and, additionally for rendering the sound source at the first image source position, when a listener position is located within the first visible zone, for rendering the sound source at the additional image source position, when the listener position is located within the invisible zone, or for rendering the sound source at the second image source position, when the listener position is located within the second visible zone.

Apparatus for rendering a sound scene, including: a first pipeline stage including a first control layer and a reconfigurable first audio data processor, wherein the reconfigurable first audio data processor is configured to operate in accordance with a first configuration of the reconfigurable first audio data processor; a second pipeline stage located, with respect to a pipeline flow, subsequent to the first pipeline stage, the second pipeline stage including a second control layer and a reconfigurable second audio data processor, wherein the reconfigurable second audio data processor is configured to operate in accordance with a first configuration of the reconfigurable second audio data processor; and a central controller for controlling the first control layer and the second control layer in response to the sound scene, so that the first control layer prepares a second configuration of the reconfigurable first audio data processor during or subsequent to an operation of the reconfigurable first audio data processor in the first configuration of the reconfigurable first audio data processor, or so that the second control layer prepares a second configuration of the reconfigurable second audio data processor during or subsequent to an operation of the reconfigurable second audio data processor in the first configuration of the reconfigurable second audio data processor, and wherein the central controller is configured to control the first control layer or the second control layer using a switch control to reconfigure the reconfigurable first audio data processor to the second configuration for the reconfigurable first audio data processor or to reconfigure the reconfigurable second audio data processor to the second configuration for the reconfigurable second audio data processor at a certain time instant.

The present technology relates to a signal processing apparatus and method, and a program that make it possible to reduce an arithmetic operation amount.

The signal processing apparatus performs, on the basis of audio object mute information indicative of whether or not a signal of an audio object is a mute signal, at least either one of a decoding process or a rendering process of an object signal of the audio object. The present technology can be applied to a signal processing apparatus.

An audio content distribution system includes a server device and a user terminal. The server device includes an audio-data acquisition unit that acquires audio data from a distribution source, an audio-content-data generation unit that adds, to the audio data, acoustic-effect setting information indicating whether to add echo and/or attenuation of sound in a virtual reality space, and generates audio content data, and an audio-content-data distribution unit that distributes the audio content data to a user terminal of a user who operates an avatar in the virtual reality space. The user terminal includes an audio-content-data receiving unit that receives the audio content data from the server device, and an audio-data output-control unit that outputs the audio data stored in the audio content data with an acoustic effect according to the acoustic-effect setting information.

The present disclosure discloses an acoustic output apparatus including at least one acoustic driver, a controller, and a supporting structure. The at least one acoustic driver may be configured to output sounds through at least two sound guiding holes. The at least two sound guiding holes may include a first sound guiding hole and a second sound guiding hole. The controller may be configured to control a phase and an amplitude of the sounds generated by the at least one acoustic driver using a control signal such that the sounds output by the at least one acoustic driver through the first and second sound guiding holes have opposite phases. The supporting structure may be provided with a baffle and configured to support the at least one acoustic driver such that the first and second sound guiding holes are located on both sides of the baffle.