Modification of signal attenuation relative to distance based on signal characteristics

A system for spatializing audio, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• non-transitory memory having stored therein a plurality of instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the following:
• determining a baseline relationship between a) strength of a direct component of an audio signal of a sound source as perceived by a listener, and b) distance between the sound source and the listener in a virtual space, based on one or more acoustic characteristics of the virtual space;
• calculating strength of audio signal;
• determining, based on the calculated strength of the audio signal, a modified relationship between a) the strength of the audio signal of the sound source as perceived by the listener, and b) the distance between the sound source and the listener in the virtual space that is different from the baseline relationship, by decreasing or increasing the strength of the direct component at one or more distances between the sound source and the listener defined by the baseline relationship;
• determining a strength of a modified direct component based on a) the modified relationship of the direct component and b) a current distance between a current position of the sound source and a current position of the listener in the virtual space, resulting in a direct component of the audio signal having an attenuated strength;
• and
• determining a reverberant component of the audio signal, based on the one or more acoustic characteristics of the virtual space;
• determining a reverberant attenuation level, based on the calculated strength of the audio signal
• attenuating the audio signal with the reverberant attenuation level, resulting in a reverberant component with attenuated strength;
• and
• spatializing and combining the modified direct component and the reverberant component having the attenuated strength, based on a current listener position and current sound source position in the virtual space, with a head related transfer function, resulting in left and right spatialized audio signals, that, when used to drive a left speaker and a right speaker of a headphone set, are converted to sound that is perceived by the listener to contain the sound source and the second sound source at respective positions in the virtual space.

An article of manufacture, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• non-transitory memory having stored therein a plurality of instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the following:
• determining, based on one or more acoustic characteristics of the virtual space, a baseline draw-away curve of a sound source that defines strength or attenuation of an audio signal of a sound source relative to a distance between the sound source and the listener in a virtual space;
• calculating strength of an audio signal of a sound source;
• modifying, based on the calculated strength of the audio signal, the strength or the attenuation of the audio signal relative to the distance between the sound source and the listener in the virtual space defined by the baseline draw-away curve, resulting in a modified draw-away curve that is different than the baseline draw-away curve;
• determining a modified audio signal based on the modified draw-away curve and a distance between a current position of the sound source and a current position of the listener in the virtual space;
• and
• spatializing the modified audio signal based on a current listener position and current sound source position in the virtual space, with a head related transfer function, resulting in a left and right spatialized audio signal, that, when used to drive a left speaker and a right speaker of a headphone set, are converted to sound that is perceived by the listener to contain the sound source at the current sound source position in the virtual space.