Binaural Capture and Synthesis of Ambient Soundscapes

A system for the accurate capture and recording of the audible range of a 3D spatial sound field in its raw information laden form absent of unnatural alteration, all effort in support of subsequent re-synthesis and re-rendering to any attitude chosen by a listener. Such a system has not been found to yet exist. Our initial solution is a feasibility study extending B-format microphone techniques to 0 dB SPL coupled with novel spatial equalization of the w, x, y, and z components of the calculated sound field. Storage of raw audio from the tetrahedron of microphones and their calibration characteristics preserves basic field data for later improved analysis. A fact we will use to repeatedly study and propose methods for the identification of the separable components or "sound objects" from the soundscapes. Cataloging the sound objects characteristics and soundscape visitation pattern will facilitate synthesis of artificial but similar sounding environments. Ultimately, a listener will be able to observe the synthesized or captured sound field from selectable attitudes through selectable HRTF transfer functions or other improved schema. The primary market outside defense applications of the technology will likely be interactive game developers that are continuously pressured for novel differentiation of their product.