Abstract:
This talk will consider the motivation and background of using non-linear time-frequency processing for spatial audio reproduction. As an example, Directional Audio Coding (DirAC) is reviewed, which is a perceptually motivated technique for spatial audio processing. DirAC analyzes in short time windows the sound spectrum together with direction and diffuseness in frequency bands of human hearing, and uses this information in synthesis. It has applications in capturing, coding and resynthesis of spatial sound, in teleconferencing, in directional filtering, and in virtual auditory environments. The system is demonstrated with multi-channel loudspeaker setup for reproduction of spatial sound, and for game audio engine application.

Bio:
Prof Ville Pulkki received his D. Sc. (Tech) degree from Helsinki University of Technology in 2001. In his doctoral dissertation he developed Vector Base Amplitude Panning (VBAP), which is a method for positioning virtual sources to multichannel loudspeaker configurations. Later, he has been working on parametric time-frequency-domain spatial audio reproduction techniques. He works also on computational functional model of the brain organs devoted to binaural hearing. He leads the spatial sound research team in Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics in Aalto University (the university formerly known as Helsinki University of Technology).

This lecture is part of CNMAT’s spatial audio lecture series: http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/spatialaudiolectures