Sound rendering with diffraction

Abstract

In this project, a sound engine that able to generate a soundtrack for a computer animation is developed. This sound engine uses a ray tracing approach to find the path from the sound sources to the listener. Tracing sound ray is slightly different from tracing light ray, so there must be a lot of rooms for me to explore. That is why I am interested in doing this project. Base on this motivation, a diffraction handling algorithm is introduced by the sound engine. It aims at modeling the behavior of diffraction of sound waves. It is accomplished by creating some diffracted rays near the edges of gaps and obstacles and then further trace on it. I have written my experiences in implementing this ray tracer and sound rendering pipeline in this report. Also, the difficulties encountered and issue raised by the diffraction handling algorithm is described. Finally, a conclusion about the project is drawn.