NTT Do Como has developed a highly efficient mobile spatial audio transmission technology that enables a mobile phone user to assign a spatial position to each sound source when listening to multiple sound sources, such as during a game or a conference call. The technology enables a user listening with headphones to; for example, hear each speaker’s voice as if it were coming from a unique direction, creating a virtual face-to-face communication environment. The processes are collaboratively performed on both the server and client sides. The server identifies the important sound components of each speaker’s voice, compresses them efficiently into a single stream and transmits it to the mobile phones.
Each phone then decodes the received stream and simultaneously synthesizes spatial audio images (see attachment).DoCoMo will demonstrate its new spatial audio transmission technology using DoComo PRO series HT-01A handsets during Wireless Technology Park 2009 at Pacifico Yokohama on May 12 and 13.
