# US 12,120,500 B2 · Acoustic reproduction method, acoustic reproduction device, and recording medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,500 B2 - Document ID: US12120500B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/939,114 - Filed: 2022-09-07 - Published: 2023-01-05 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2020-03-16 - Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Inventors: Seigo Enomoto; Tomokazu Ishikawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120500B2 ## CPC - H04S 7/304: {For headphones} - G10L 19/008: Multichannel audio signal coding or decoding using interchannel correlation to reduce redundancy, e.g. joint-stereo, intensity-coding or matrixing - H04S 3/008: {in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels (data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02)} - H04S 2400/01: Multi-channel, i.e. more than two input channels, sound reproduction with two speakers wherein the multi-channel information is substantially preserved - H04S 2400/11: Positioning of individual sound objects, e.g. moving airplane, within a sound field (H04S2420/13 takes precedence) - H04S 2400/13: Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in stereophonic sound systems - H04S 2400/15: Aspects of sound capture and related signal processing for recording or reproduction - H04S 2420/01: Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD] - H04S: STEREOPHONIC SYSTEMS - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract An acoustic reproduction method includes: localizing a first sound image at a first position in a target space in which a user is present; and localizing, at a second position in the target space, a second sound image that represents an anchor sound for indicating a reference position. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An acoustic reproduction method comprising: obtaining a sound signal indicating a first sound image and positional information pertaining to a first position indicating a position of the first sound image; localizing, based on the positional information, the first sound image at the first position in a target space in which a user is present; and localizing a second sound image at a second position in the target space, the second sound image representing an anchor sound for indicating a reference position, the second position being determined according to a frontal direction in which a face of the user faces or a horizontal direction corresponding to a position of the user as a reference. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, wherein in the localizing of the second sound image, some of ambient sounds or some of reproduced sounds in the target space are used as a sound source of the anchor sound. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, using a microphone, ambient sounds arriving at the user from a direction of the second position in the target space, wherein in the localizing of the second sound image, the ambient sounds obtained are used as a sound source of the anchor sound. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, using a microphone, ambient sounds arriving at the user in the target space; selectively obtaining, from among the ambient sounds obtained, a sound that satisfies a predetermined condition; and determining a position in a direction of the sound selectively obtained to be the second position. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined condition relates to at least one of an arrival direction of a sound, duration of a sound, intensity of a sound, a frequency of a sound, and a type of a sound. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 4, wherein as a condition indicating an arrival direction of a sound, the predetermined condition includes an angular range indicating a direction (i) not including a vertical direction with respect to the user, and (ii) including a forward direction and a horizontal direction with respect to the user. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 4, wherein as a condition indicating intensity of a sound, the predetermined condition includes a predetermined intensity range. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 4, wherein as a condition indicating a frequency of a sound, the predetermined condition includes a predetermined frequency range. ### Claim 9 (depends on 4) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 4, wherein as a condition indicating a type of a sound, the predetermined condition includes a human voice or a special sound. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, wherein the localizing of the second sound image includes adjusting intensity of the anchor sound according to intensity of a first sound source. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, wherein an elevation angle or a depression angle of the second position with respect to the user is smaller than a predetermined angle. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for use in a computer, the recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon for causing the computer to execute the acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1. ### Claim 13 An acoustic reproduction device comprising: a decoder that decodes an encoded sound signal to obtain a sound signal indicating a first sound image and positional information pertaining to a first position indicating a position of the first sound image, the sound signal causing a user to perceive a first sound image; a first localizer that localizes, based on the positional information according to the encoded sound signal that has been decoded, the first sound image at the first position in a target space in which the user is present; and a second localizer that localizes a second sound image at a second position in the target space, the second sound image representing an anchor sound for indicating a reference position, the second position being determined according to a frontal direction in which a face of the user faces or a horizontal direction corresponding to a position of the user as a reference. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, wherein the second position is closer to the horizontal direction than the first position is. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The acoustic reproduction method according to claim 1, wherein the second position is changed based on a change in an orientation of the face of the user.