# US 10,500,495 B2 · Non-transitory storage medium having stored therein sound processing program, non-transitory storage medium having stored therein information processing program, sound processing method, sound processing device, and non-transitory storage medium having stored therein game program

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,500,495 B2
- Document ID: US10500495B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/672,720
- Filed: 2017-08-09
- Published: 2018-02-15
- Granted: 2019-12-10
- Earliest claimed: 2016-08-10
- Assignees: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Shigetoshi Gohara
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10500495B2

## CPC

- A63F 13/54: involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
- A63F 2300/6081: generating an output signal, e.g. under timing constraints, for spatialization
- A63F: CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A CPU performs a sound acquisition step of acquiring sound data for outputting sound, a movement step of moving a virtual sound source and/or a virtual microphone in a virtual space in which the virtual sound source and the virtual microphone are set, a sound modification step of generating modified sound by adding the Doppler effect virtually observed by the virtual microphone when the sound is output from the virtual sound source to the sound of the sound data by calculation using the values of the limited speeds of the virtual sound source and/or the virtual microphone, and a modified sound output step of outputting the modified sound.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform operations comprising:
acquiring sound data;
setting, in a virtual space, a virtual sound source configured to virtually produce sound based on the sound data and a virtual microphone configured to virtually capture the sound virtually produced by the virtual sound source;
determining the Doppler effect for the sound produced by the virtual sound source and virtually captured by the virtual microphone based on a first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source and/or on a second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone, wherein, in the determining of the Doppler effect, the first speed is clamped to a first maximum speed when the first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source exceeds the first maximum speed and/or the second speed is clamped to second maximum speed when the second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone exceeds the second maximum speed;
modifying the sound virtually captured by the virtual microphone according to the determined Doppler effect; and
outputting the modified sound.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1,
wherein a position of the virtual sound source in the virtual space is associated with a position of a first object in the virtual space, and
a position of the virtual microphone in the virtual space is associated with a position of a second object in the virtual space.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 2,
wherein the second object comprises a player object moving in the virtual space in response to a user operation.

### Claim 4

A sound processing method comprising:
acquiring sound data;
setting, in a virtual space, a virtual sound source configured to virtually produce sound based on the sound data and a virtual microphone configured to virtually capture the sound virtually produced by the virtual sound source;
determining the Doppler effect for the sound produced by the virtual sound source and virtually captured by the virtual microphone based on a first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source and/or on a second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone, wherein, in the determining of the Doppler effect, the first speed is clamped to a first maximum speed when the first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source exceeds the first maximum speed and/or the second speed is clamped to second maximum speed when the second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone exceeds the second maximum speed;
modifying the sound virtually captured by the virtual microphone according to the determined Doppler effect; and
outputting the modified sound.

### Claim 5

A sound processing device comprising:
a controller for receiving a user operation;
storage configured to store therein sound data; and
a processor configured to at least:
set, in a virtual space, a virtual sound source configured to virtually produce sound based on the sound data and a virtual microphone configured to virtually capture the sound virtually produced by the virtual sound source; determine the Doppler effect for the sound produced by the virtual sound source and virtually captured by the virtual microphone based on a first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source and/or on a second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone, wherein, in the determining of the Doppler effect, the first speed is clamped to a first maximum speed when the first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source exceeds the first maximum speed and/or the second speed is clamped to second maximum speed when the second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone exceeds the second maximum speed; and
modify the sound virtually captured by the virtual microphone according to the determined Doppler effect; and
a speaker configured to output the modified sound.

### Claim 6

A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which, when executed by a computer connected to a controller for receiving a user operation, storage for storing therein sound data, and a speaker, causes the computer to perform operations comprising:
setting at least a first object and a second object in a virtual space;
receiving, from the controller, an instruction to move the second object in the virtual space;
reading, from the storage, sound data associated with the first object within a predetermined distance from the second object in the virtual space;
acquiring sound data for producing sound by the first object;
moving the second object in response to the instruction to move;
determining the Doppler effect for the sound produced by the first object and virtually captured by the second object based on a first speed of movement in the virtual space of the first object and/or on a second speed of movement in the virtual space of the second object, wherein, in the determining of the Doppler effect, the first speed is clamped to a first maximum speed when the first speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual sound source exceeds the first maximum speed and/or the second speed is clamped to second maximum speed when the second speed of movement in the virtual space of the virtual microphone exceeds the second maximum speed;
modifying the sound virtually captured by the second object according to the determined Doppler effect; and
outputting the modified sound from the speaker.