Acoustical Zooming Based on a Parametric Sound Field Representation

Directional audio coding (DirAC) is a parametric approach for the analysis and reproduction of spatial sound. The DirAC parameters, namely direction-of-arrival and diffuseness of sound can be further exploited in modern teleconferencing systems. Based on the directional parameters, we can control a video camera to automatically steer on the active talker. In order to provide consistency between the visual and acoustical cues, the virtual recording position should match the visual movement. In this paper, we present an approach for an acoustical zoom, which provides audio rendering that follows the movement of the visual scene. The algorithm does not rely on a priori information regarding the sound reproduction system as it operates directly in the DirAC parameter domain.