Head-related impulse responses for area sound sources located in the near field

A virtual-reality device, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
• generating audio data associated with an area source in the virtual scene, wherein the area source is located within a predefined near-field distance from the listener;
• selecting a plurality of sample point sources from the area source;
• determining, for each sample point source, energy contributions of the sample point source to two respective successive shells of a plurality of spherical shells that extend from the listener to the predefined near-field distance, the two respective successive shells enclosing the sample point source, wherein the determined energy contributions correspond to sound originating from the sample point source;
• determining a head-related impulse response (HRIR) for each shell by combining the determined energy contributions that are associated with the respective shell;
• determining an overall HRIR for the virtual scene by combining the determined HRIRs for the plurality of shells;
• combining the audio data with the overall HRIR;
• and
• transmitting the combined audio data to sound-producing devices of the virtual-reality device.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing one or more programs configured for execution by one or more processors of a virtual-reality device, the one or more programs including instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the virtual-reality device to:

• generating audio data associated with an area source in the virtual scene, wherein the area source is located within a predefined near-field distance from the listener;
• selecting a plurality of sample point sources from the area source;
• determining, for each sample point source, energy contributions of the sample point source to two respective successive shells of a plurality of spherical shells that extend from the listener to the predefined near-field distance, the two respective successive shells enclosing the sample point source, wherein the determined energy contributions correspond to sound originating from the sample point source;
• determining a head-related impulse response (HRIR) for each shell by combining the determined energy contributions that are associated with the respective shell;
• determining an overall HRIR for the virtual scene by combining the determined HRIRs for the plurality of shells;
• combining the audio data with the overall HRIR;
• and
• transmitting the combined audio data to sound-producing devices of the virtual-reality device.