Common sensation acoustic device

Abstract

To provide a common sensation acoustic device capable of maintaining an appropriate relation of a sound volume level and a vibration level when changing a sound volume.SOLUTION: A common sensation acoustic device 100 comprises: an operation part 140 that is operated by a user; a speaker 122 that is arranged at a position where a user can perform a hearing; an amplifier 120 that outputs a signal obtained by amplifying an audio signal to be input with a first gain from a speaker 122; vibrators 132 and 134 that are arranged at a position where a vibration can be transmitted to the user; a vibration driving part 130 that vibrates the vibrators 132 and 134 by a signal obtained by amplifying the audio signal with a second gain; and gain setting parts 144 and 146 that set the first and second gains so as to be corresponded to an operation amount of the operation part 140 by the user, and provides a different gain characteristic of the first and second gains in this setting.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a bodily acoustic device that outputs sound and vibration corresponding to an audio signal to a user. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in addition to the acoustic effects of an acoustic device that transmits musical tones through air, such as a speaker, a bodily sound device has been known that converts a low-frequency component signal extracted from an audio signal into mechanical vibration and directly experiences this to enhance the sense of realism (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this bodily sound device, after adjusting the volume of the input musical tone signal using a volume adjustment means, the signal amplified by an amplifier is output from a speaker, and the signal with the amplified low-frequency component is used to vibrate a bodily sound unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-301542 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the bodily acoustic device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the volume of the input musical sound signal is set by a volume adjustment means, but this volume setting is performed according to the operation of the user (passenger in the vehicle), and each user sets the volume according to their preference.

[0005] Generally, when the volume setting value is changed, there is a difference between the degree of change in the volume level output from the speaker and the degree of change in the vibration level of the bodily sound unit. Therefore, even if the user feels that the volume level and the vibration level are well-balanced and appropriate at a certain volume setting value, the balance between the respective bodily sound levels that were previously felt to be appropriate will be lost when the volume setting value is changed. Specifically, when the volume setting value at which each bodily sound level is felt to be appropriate is lowered, the bodily sound level of the vibration of the bodily sound unit becomes too small and the vibration is hardly felt, and conversely, when the volume setting value is raised, the bodily sound level of the vibration of the bodily sound unit becomes too large and feels annoying.

[0006] The present invention was created in consideration of these points, and its object is to provide a bodily acoustic device that can maintain an appropriate relationship between volume level and vibration level when the volume is changed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the bodily acoustic device of the present invention comprises an operating means operated by a user, a speaker located at a position where the user can hear it, an amplifying means for outputting a signal obtained by amplifying an input audio signal at a first gain from the speaker, a vibration means located at a position where vibration can be transmitted to the user, a vibration driving means for vibrating the vibration means with a signal obtained by amplifying the audio signal at a second gain, and a gain setting means for setting the first and second gains in accordance with the amount of operation of the operating means by the user and for giving different gain characteristics to the first and second gains in this setting.

[0008] By outputting a sound corresponding to an audio signal from a speaker and generating a corresponding vibration by a vibration means, it is possible to realize a bodily sensation type acoustic space by sound and vibration. In particular, by making the gain for setting the volume level of the speaker and the gain for setting the vibration level of the vibration means different, it is possible to prevent the balance between these bodily sensation levels from being lost, and it is possible to maintain an appropriate relationship between the volume level and the vibration level when the volume is changed.

[0009] Moreover, it is preferable that the above-mentioned gain setting means includes a first gain setting means for setting a first gain corresponding to the manipulated variable, and a second gain setting means for setting a second gain corresponding to the manipulated variable, the second gain being changed by a smaller amount than the first gain when the manipulated variable is changed. This makes it possible to prevent the vibration level of the vibration means from being felt as being excessively low when the volume level of the output sound of the speaker is reduced, and conversely, to prevent the vibration level of the vibration means from being felt as being excessively high when the volume level of the output sound of the speaker is increased.

[0010] Moreover, it is preferable that the vibration means described above is disposed on the surface and / or inside of the seat on which the user sits. In particular, it is preferable that the vibration means described above is disposed on the seat surface and / or backrest of the seat. It is also preferable that the speaker described above is disposed on the surface and / or inside of the headrest of the seat on which the user sits. In this way, by providing the speaker and vibration means using the seat on which the user sits, the user can use a bodily sensation type acoustic system that uses sound and vibration by simply sitting on the seat, without having to wear any special equipment.

[0011] In addition, it is desirable that the first gain and the second gain are proportional to the operation amount, and that the proportional constants of the first gain and the second gain are set to different values. This makes it easy to adjust the discomfort caused by the imbalance between the volume level and the vibration level when the volume is changed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bodily sensation acoustic device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 11 is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship between the operation amount of the operation unit and the gain of the amplifier and transducer driver. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, a bodily acoustic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a bodily sound device of one embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the bodily sound device 100 of this embodiment includes an audio output unit 110, an amplifier 120, a speaker 122, a transducer driver 130, transducers 132 and 134, an operation unit 140, an operation amount detector 142, and gain setting units 144 and 146. This bodily sound device 100 is mounted on a vehicle, and allows a user (the driver or other passengers) to experience sounds and vibrations corresponding to audio sounds.

[0015] The audio output unit 110 outputs a signal of music that the user wishes to listen to (audio signal). This music is not limited to a specific type such as music or audio played by an audio / video playback device or a television receiver, or music or audio of distributed music / video received by an Internet receiving device, but broadly includes sounds that exist in the natural world, such as sounds produced by musical instruments that contain sounds in a frequency band that the user can hear, and human singing voices.

[0016] The amplifier 120 amplifies the audio signal output from the audio output unit 110 with a predetermined gain (first gain) and outputs the amplified audio signal from the speaker 122. The speaker 122 is disposed on the surface and / or inside the headrest 210 of the user's seat 200 at a position close to the user's ears, so that the user can easily hear the output audio sound. Preferably, two speakers 122, one for the left and one for the right, are used so that different audio sounds reach the left and right ears of the user.

[0017] The vibrator driving unit 130 drives the vibrators 132, 134 with a signal obtained by amplifying the audio signal output from the audio output unit 110 with a predetermined gain (second gain) to vibrate them. The vibrators 132, 134 are arranged on the surface and / or inside the seat 200 of the user so that the user can easily feel the generated vibration. Specifically, one of the vibrators 132 is arranged on the surface and / or inside the backrest 220 of the seat 200, and the generated vibration is transmitted to the back of the user. The other vibrator 134 is arranged on the surface and / or inside the seat surface 230 of the seat 200, and the generated vibration is transmitted to the thighs of the user.

[0018] Operation unit 140 is operated by a user who wishes to change the volume. Operation amount detection unit 142 detects the amount of operation of operation unit 140 by the user. Any type of operation unit 140 and operation amount detection unit 142 may be used. For example, it is possible to analogically or digitally detect the amount of rotation (rotation angle) of a rotating member as the amount of operation, or to detect the number of times or the operation time of each of the up button and the down button to determine the amount of operation.

[0019] The gain setting unit 144 sets the gain (first gain) of the amplifier 120 in accordance with the amount of operation of the operation unit 140 by the user detected by the operation amount detection unit 142. Moreover, the gain setting unit 146 sets the gain (second gain) of the transducer driver 130 in accordance with the amount of operation of the operation unit 140 by the user detected by the operation amount detection unit 142. Moreover, the amount of change in the gain (second gain) of the transducer driver 130 when the amount of operation of the operation unit 140 changes is set to be smaller than the amount of change in the gain (first gain) of the amplifier 120 when the amount of operation changes by the same amount.

[0020] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship between the amount of operation of the operation unit 140 and the gains of the amplifier 120 and the transducer driver 130. In Fig. 2, the horizontal axis shows the amount of operation expressed in the number of steps, with the minimum amount of operation being the number of steps "0" and the maximum amount of operation being the number of steps "30". The vertical axis shows the gain in dB. Also, A shows the gain characteristics of the amplifier 120, and B shows the gain characteristics of the transducer driver 130.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 2, when comparing gains A and B when the number of steps as the operation amount is changed, the gain characteristics are set so that the amount of change in gain B of the vibrator driving unit 130 is smaller than the amount of change in gain A of the amplifier 120. Specifically, there is a proportional relationship between each of gains A and B and the operation amount, and these gain characteristics are realized by setting the respective proportional constants to different values. By setting the proportional constants in this way, it becomes easy to adjust the discomfort caused by the imbalance between the volume level and the vibration level when the volume is changed.

[0022] 2, when the number of steps is "15", the gain A of the amplifier 120 and the gain B of the transducer driver 130 have the same value, and when the number of steps is reduced from this, the gain A of the amplifier 120 decreases significantly, whereas the degree of decrease is smaller for the gain B of the transducer driver 130. Also, when the number of steps is increased beyond "15", the gain A of the amplifier 120 increases significantly, whereas the degree of increase for the gain B of the transducer driver 130 is smaller.

[0023] The reason why gain B increases suddenly when the step number is changed from "0" to "1" is that the gain is reduced so that excessive vibrations do not occur in the step "0" state where no operation is performed, and is unrelated to the gain setting in this invention.

[0024] The above-mentioned operation unit 140 corresponds to an operation means, amplifier 120 corresponds to an amplification means, vibrators 132 and 134 correspond to a vibration means, vibrator drive unit 130 corresponds to a vibration drive means, gain setting unit 144 corresponds to a first gain setting means, and gain setting unit 146 corresponds to a second gain setting means.

[0025] In this way, in the bodily sensation acoustic device 100 of this embodiment, a sound corresponding to an audio signal is output from the speaker 122, and a corresponding vibration is generated by the vibrators 132, 134, thereby making it possible to realize a bodily sensation acoustic space using sound and vibration. In particular, by making the gain (first gain) that sets the volume level of the speaker 122 different from the gain (second gain) that sets the vibration level of the vibrators 132, 134, it is possible to adjust these bodily sensation levels to prevent them from becoming unbalanced, and it becomes possible to maintain an appropriate relationship between the volume level and the vibration level when the volume is changed.

[0026] This makes it possible to prevent the vibration level of the vibrators 132, 134 from being felt as excessively low when the volume level of the output sound of the speaker 122 is reduced, and conversely, to prevent the vibration level of the vibrators 132, 134 from being felt as excessively high when the volume level of the output sound of the speaker 122 is increased.

[0027] Furthermore, by providing the speaker 122 and the vibrators 132, 134 in the seat 200 on which the user sits, the user can use the bodily sensation type acoustic system that uses sound and vibration simply by sitting in the seat 200 without having to wear any special equipment.

[0028] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the speaker 122 and the vibrators 132, 134 are arranged on the seat 200 installed in the vehicle, but the present invention can also be applied to a case where the speaker 122, etc. are arranged on a seat used in a place other than the vehicle. The present invention can also be applied to a case where audio sound is listened to through headphones (with built-in speakers) or where the vibrator 132, etc. is held in contact with the user's body by a belt, clothing, etc. [Industrial Applicability]

[0029] As described above, according to the present invention, a sound corresponding to an audio signal is output from a speaker, and a corresponding vibration is generated by a vibration means, thereby making it possible to realize a bodily sensation type acoustic space by sound and vibration. In particular, by making the gain for setting the volume level of the speaker and the gain for setting the vibration level of the vibration means different, it is possible to prevent the balance between these bodily sensation levels from being lost, and it is possible to maintain an appropriate relationship between the volume level and the vibration level when the volume is changed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 100 Body-sensing sound device 110 Audio output section 120 Amps 122 Speaker 130 Transducer driver 132, 134 Transducers 140 Operation section 142 Operation amount detection unit 144, 146 Gain setting section

Claims

1. An operating means operated by a user; A speaker arranged at a position where the user can hear the sound; an amplifier for amplifying an input audio signal by a first gain and outputting the amplified signal from the speaker; A vibration means disposed at a position capable of transmitting vibration to a user; a vibration driving means for vibrating the vibration means with a signal obtained by amplifying the audio signal by a second gain; a gain setting means for setting the first and second gains in accordance with an amount of operation of the operation means by a user, and for giving different gain characteristics to the first and second gains in this setting; A bodily sensation acoustic device comprising:

2. 2. The bodily acoustic device according to claim 1, wherein the gain setting means includes: a first gain setting means for setting the first gain so as to correspond to the manipulated variable; and a second gain setting means for setting the second gain so as to correspond to the manipulated variable, the second gain setting means being configured to make a change in the second gain smaller than a change in the first gain when the manipulated variable is changed.

3. 2. The acoustic device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration means is disposed on the surface and / or inside of a seat on which a user sits.

4. 4. The acoustic device according to claim 3, wherein the vibration means is disposed on a seat surface and / or a backrest of the seat.

5. 2. The acoustic device according to claim 1, wherein the speaker is disposed on the surface of and / or inside a headrest of a seat on which a user sits.

6. 2. The acoustic device according to claim 1, wherein the first gain and the second gain are proportional to the manipulated variable, and the proportional constants of the first gain and the second gain are set to different values.

Images