Non-minimum phase inverse filter methods for immersive audio rendering

Immersive audio systems are being envisioned for applications that include teleconferencing and telepresence; augmented and virtual reality for manufacturing and entertainment; air traffic control, pilot warning, and guidance systems; displays for the visually-impaired; distance learning; and professional sound and picture editing for television and film. The principal function of such systems is to synthesize, manipulate and render sound fields in real time. In this paper we examine several signal processing considerations in spatial sound rendering over loudspeakers. We propose two methods that can be used to implement the necessary filters for generating virtual sound sources based on synthetic head-related transfer functions with the same spectral characteristics as those of the real source.