AES Europe 2026

Personal sound zones aim to reproduce distinct audio
contents in separate spatial regions using loudspeaker
arrays, while minimizing acoustic interference between
zones. Although well established theoretically, their
real-time implementation remains challenging due to the
long impulse responses involved; the latency constraints
of audio processing systems.
This work presents a real-time implementation of personal
sound zones based on the pressure matching method in a
static context, i.e. transfer functions between the
loudspeakers; the zones are assumed to remain constant.
Sound zone filters are computed in the frequency domain
from experimentally measured impulse responses between an
array of 18 loudspeakers; two microphone arrays of 9
microphones defining a bright zone; a dark zone. The
system performance is then evaluated in terms of acoustic
contrast, reproduction error,; effective frequency
range. To meet real-time constraints, a fast partitioned
convolution algorithm has been used, namely the
Uniformly-Partitioned Overlap Save (UPOLS). This methods
has been implemented in C++ as an external block for the
Purr Data real-time audio environment. Experimental
results, obtained in a semi-anechoic environment,
demonstrate that it enables stable real-time multichannel
convolution with negligible numerical error compared to
offline convolution. The proposed system results in a
functional real-time sound zones demonstrator, suitable for
experimental; interactive spatial audio applications.
The codes are shared in a GitHub repository so that the
scientific community can benefit from them.