HRTF personalization based on anthropometric features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9900722-B2
Application number	US-201414265154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2014
Priority date	Apr 29, 2014
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

The derivation of personalized HRTFs for a human subject based on the anthropometric feature parameters of the human subject involves obtaining multiple anthropometric feature parameters and multiple HRTFs of multiple training subjects. Subsequently, multiple anthropometric feature parameters of a human subject are acquired. A representation of the statistical relationship between the plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of the human subject and a subset of the multiple anthropometric feature parameters belonging to the plurality of training subjects is determined. The representation of the statistical relationship is then applied to the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects to obtain a set of personalized HRTFs for the human subject.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. One or more computer storage media storing computer-executable instructions that are executable to cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
obtaining multiple anthropometric feature parameters and multiple Head-related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) of a plurality of training subjects;
acquiring a plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of a test subject;
determining a representation of a statistical relationship between the plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of the test subject and a subset of the multiple anthropometric feature parameters belonging to the plurality of training subjects; and
applying the representation of the statistical relationship to the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects, which modifies the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects, to obtain a set of personalized HRTFs for the test subject.

2. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , further comprising generating 3-dimensional sound for the test subject using at least a pair of speakers based at least on the set of personalized HRTFs for the test subject.

3. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , wherein the determining the representation of the statistical relationship includes learning a sparse representation or a ridge regression representation of the plurality of the anthropometric feature parameters of the test subject as a linear superposition of the subset of the multiple anthropometric feature parameters belonging to the plurality of training subjects.

4. The one or more computer storage media of claim wherein the learning the sparse representation includes using a non-negative sparse representation term in a minimization problem for learning the representation of the statistical relationship to ensure that weight values of the sparse representation are positive.

5. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , wherein the applying includes applying the statistical relationship to obtain a set of personalized HRTFs for at least one of a left ear or a right ear of the test subject.

6. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , wherein the applying the representation of the statistical relationship includes:
determining a HRTF magnitude for the test subject representation by applying the representation of the statistical relationship to the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects;
determining a corresponding HRTF phase scaling factor for the HRTF magnitude by applying the representation of the statistical relationship to interaural time delay (ITD) data of the plurality of training subjects; and
combining the HRTF magnitude and the corresponding HRTF phase scaling factor to generate a personalized HRTF for the test subject.

7. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining includes:
obtaining the multiple anthropometric feature parameters of a training subject via at least one of user input or an input from an automated measurement tool;
storing the multiple anthropometric feature parameters of the training subject;

obtaining a set of HRTFs for the training subject via measurement of sounds transmitted to ears of the training subject from a plurality of positions in a spherical arrangement that excludes a spherical wedge;
interpolating an additional set of HRTFs for the training subject with respect to virtual positions in the spherical wedge based on the set of the HRTFs; and
storing the set of HRTFs and the additional set of HRTFs of the training subject.

8. The one or more computer storage media of claim 1 , wherein the determining the representation of the statistical relationship includes solving a minimization problem for a non-negative shrinking parameter that is tuned using a leave-one-person-out cross-validation approach.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
obtaining multiple anthropometric feature parameters and multiple Head-related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) of a plurality of training subjects;
acquiring a plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of a test subject;

determining a sparse representation of the plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of the test subject, the sparse representation representing the plurality of anthropometric features of the test subject based at least on a subset of the multiple anthropometric feature parameters belonging to the plurality of training subjects; and
applying the sparse representation to the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects, which modifies the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects, to obtain a set of personalized HRTFs for the test subject.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the acquiring includes acquiring the plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of the test subject via at least one of user input or an input from an automated measurement tool.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the sparse representation represents the plurality of anthropometric features of the test subject as a linear superposition of the subset of the multiple anthropometric feature parameters belonging to the plurality of training subjects.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the sparse representation includes using a non-negative sparse representation term in a minimization problem for learning the sparse representation to ensure that weight values of the sparse representation are positive.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the applying the representation of a statistical relationship includes:
determining a HRTF magnitude for the test subject representation by applying the sparse representation to the multiple HRTFs of the plurality of training subjects;
determining a corresponding HRTF phase scaling factor for the HRTF magnitude by applying the sparse representation to interaural time delay (ITD) data of the plurality of training subjects; and
combining the HRTF magnitude and the corresponding HRTF phase scaling factor to generate a personalized HRTF for the test subject.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the obtaining includes:
obtaining the multiple anthropometric feature parameters of a training subject via at least one of user input or an input from an automated measurement tool;
storing the multiple anthropometric feature parameters of the training subject; obtaining a set of HRTFs for the training subject via measurement of sounds transmitted to ears of the training subject from a plurality of positions in a spherical arrangement that excludes a spherical wedge;

interpolating an additional set of HRTFs for the training subject with respect to virtual positions in the spherical wedge based on the set of the HRTFs; and
storing the set of HRTFs and the additional set of HRTFs of the training subject.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the sparse representation includes solving a minimization problem for a non-negative shrinking parameter that is tuned using a leave-one-person-out cross-validation approach.

16. A system,
comprising:
a plurality of processors;
a memory that includes a plurality of computer-executable components that are executable by the plurality of processors to perform a plurality of actions, the plurality of actions comprising:
obtaining multiple anthropometric feature parameters and multiple Head-related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) of a plurality of training subjects;
acquiring a plurality of anthropometric feature parameters of a test subject; deter

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Bilinski Piotr Tadeusz
• Ahrens Jens
• Thomas Mark R P
• Tashev Ivan J
• Platt John C
• Johnston David E

Classifications

• H04S7/302 Primary

  Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation (H04S7/301 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04S2420/01

  Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD] · CPC title

• H04S2400/11

  Positioning of individual sound objects, e.g. moving airplane, within a sound field (H04S2420/13 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04S7/301

  Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone · CPC title