Sound Spatialization Framework

The Sound Spatialization Framework is a C++ toolkit and development environment for providing advanced sound spatialization for virtual reality and multimedia applications. The Sound Spatialization Framework provides many powerful display and user-interface features not found in other sound spatialization (3D audio) software packages. It provides facilities that go beyond simple sound source spatialization: visualization and editing of the soundscape, multiple sinks, clustering of sound sources, monitoring and controlling resource management (resources are the sound spatialization channels), support for various spatialization backends, and classes for MIDI animation and handling. Computer graphics applications, including virtual reality environments, use spatial sound as an user interface. Good animation requires impressive and immersive sound. Also, audio-visual equipment like an ordinary PC which can produce such effects is becoming increasingly available. The Sound Spatialization Framework, developed at the University of Aizu, adds to graphics systems a sound management runtime environment and a development environment for spatial sound applications. The toolkit has the following features: sound spatialization API, conforming to the VRML97 standard, efficient resource management, including clustering of sound sources, flexible control and monitoring of resource management processes, visualization of sound objects in a virtual environment (see Visual Debugger in Figure 2), editing of sound objects, soundscape manipulation, support for various sound spatialization backends, dynamically extensible for new spatialization backends, full integration into Open Inventor, easy control of animations using MIDI streams, handling of MIDI streams, active lights for enhancing a visual scene, active cameras to focus on events, camera animations, and simple scripting. The sound spatialization resource management plays the central role of the system. The context shown in Figure 1 shows as the top layer a virtual reality application accessing the system via a sound spatialization application programmer interface. The resource management process itself is hidden to the VR environment. Different sound spatialization backends are accessible through an abstract sound spatialization backend interface. This abstraction makes it easy to add support for new devices without the necessity of changing the management module or application.

Figure 1: Resource management context
Virtual Reality Application
Sound Spatialization Application Programmer Interface
Sound Spatialization Resource Management
Abstract Sound Spatialization Backend Interface
Sound Spatialization Backend
Figure 2: Visual debugger for sound objects

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