Acoustic signal control method, apparatus, and program

Abstract

An acoustic signal control method according to an aspect of the technology of the disclosure includes a personality characteristics acquiring step for acquiring, by a personality characteristics acquiring unit, the personality characteristics of a user, and an acoustic signal control step for controlling an input acoustic signal on the basis of the personality characteristics acquired.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to a technology for controlling an acoustic signal.

Background Art

[0002] In order to provide a comfortable listening environment such as headphones, a noise cancellation function for suppressing external noise and a function for capturing external sound from a microphone installed outside the headphones are realized (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, many of the conventional noise cancellation functions and external sound capture functions provided the same effect for all users. Therefore, depending on the characteristics of the user, an appropriate effect may not have been provided.

[0005] For example, among users who want to create an environment where they can concentrate using the noise cancellation function, there are users who are strongly affected by noise and users who are not affected by noise at all.

[0006] An object of the disclosed technology is to provide an acoustic signal control method, apparatus, and program that can provide a user with a sound environment according to their personality characteristics.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] One aspect of the disclosed technology includes a personality trait acquisition step for acquiring a user's personality traits, and an acoustic signal control step for controlling an input acoustic signal based on the acquired personality traits. Furthermore, the control of the acoustic signal involves controlling the amount of noise suppression or the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation, depending on the user's extroversion. . In the acoustic signal control step, if the personality traits indicate that the user is highly sincere, the control may be performed to generate a binaural beat. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the disclosed technology, it is possible to provide users with a sound environment tailored to their personality traits. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows an example of the functional configuration of an acoustic signal control device. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of the processing procedure for an acoustic signal control method. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the processing performed by the acoustic signal control unit 2. [Figure 4] Figures 4A and 4B illustrate an example of the processing performed by the acoustic signal control unit 2. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows an example of a computer's functional configuration. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Embodiments of the disclosed technology will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are numbered identically in the drawings, and redundant explanations are omitted.

[0011] [Acoustic signal control device and method] As shown in Figure 1, the acoustic signal control device includes, for example, a character trait acquisition unit 1 and an acoustic signal control unit 2.

[0012] The acoustic signal control method is implemented, for example, by having each component of the acoustic signal control device perform the processing shown in steps S1 and S2 in Figure 2.

[0013] Hereinafter, examples of the processing of each part and each step of the audio signal control device will be described.

[0014] <Personality Trait Acquisition Unit 1> The Personality Trait Acquisition Unit 1 acquires the personality traits of the user (step S1).

[0015] The acquired personality traits of the user are output to the Audio Signal Control Unit 2.

[0016] For example, the Personality Trait Acquisition Unit 1 acquires the personality traits of the user based on the results of a questionnaire previously conducted on the user. In this case, the results of the questionnaire previously conducted on the user are input to the Personality Trait Acquisition Unit 1.

[0017] An example of the questionnaire is the Big Five questionnaire widely used in the field of psychology. The questionnaire may be a questionnaire other than the Big Five as long as it can acquire the personality traits of the user.

[0018] The Big Five is a personality analysis method based on the analysis of five factors (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) (Reference 1) (Reference 1) Shinji Oshio, Shingo Abe, Pino Catelloni (2012). An attempt to create the Japanese version of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI-J) Personality Research, 21, 40-52. <Audio Signal Control Unit 2> An audio signal is input to the Audio Signal Control Unit 2. Also, the personality traits of the user acquired by the Personality Trait Acquisition Unit 1 are input to the Audio Signal Control Unit 2.

[0019] The Audio Signal Control Unit 2 controls the input audio signal based on the acquired personality traits of the user (step S2). The controlled audio signal is output from the Audio Signal Control Unit 2 and presented to the user. Thereby, an acoustic environment corresponding to the personality traits can be provided to the user.

[0020] Below, two examples of acoustic control by the acoustic signal control unit 2 are described. Note that these are merely examples; the acoustic signal control unit 2 may also control acoustic signals other than those shown in these examples.

[0021] <<Example 1>> Generally, users with high extroversion are more susceptible to external noise. In other words, highly extroverted individuals tend to have their concentration easily disrupted by ambient noise. This is evident from the fact that higher extroversion is associated with longer DMTS reaction times (lower concentration levels).

[0022] Therefore, the acoustic signal control unit 2 controls the system to increase the amount of noise suppression or decrease the amount of external sound taken in for users who tend to be highly extroverted, as they are more susceptible to external noise. In other words, the acoustic signal control unit 2 controls the system to decrease the amount of noise suppression and increase the amount of external sound taken in for users who are less extroverted, as they are less susceptible to external noise.

[0023] In other words, the acoustic signal control unit 2 may control the acoustic signal such that (a) the amount of suppression in noise cancellation when the user's personality traits indicate high extroversion is greater than the amount of suppression in noise cancellation when this is not the case, or (b) the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation when the user's personality traits indicate high extroversion is smaller than the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation when this is not the case.

[0024] Furthermore, the acoustic signal control unit 2 may control the acoustic signal such that, if the user's extroversion, as indicated by their personality traits, is greater than a predetermined first threshold, the amount of suppression in noise cancellation is greater than a predetermined first amount, or the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation is less than a predetermined second amount.

[0025] Furthermore, the acoustic signal control unit 2 may control the acoustic signal such that, when the user's extroversion, as indicated by their personality traits, is less than a predetermined second threshold, the amount of suppression in noise cancellation is less than a predetermined third quantity, or the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation is greater than a predetermined fourth quantity.

[0026] <<Example 2>> The acoustic signal control unit 2 may be controlled to generate and present binaural beats if the user's personality traits indicate a high level of sincerity.

[0027] In other words, the acoustic signal control unit 2 may control the acoustic signal to generate a binaural beat if the user's sincerity, as indicated by their personality traits, is higher than a predetermined third threshold.

[0028] As can be seen from Figure 4A, this control in Example 2 allows us to expect that the group with high sincerity will show improved user performance when presented with binaural beats.

[0029] [Differentiation] The specific configuration of the embodiments of the disclosed technology is not limited to the configuration described above. The specific configuration of the embodiments of the disclosed technology can be modified as appropriate, without departing from the spirit of the embodiments of the disclosed technology.

[0030] The various processes described in the embodiments of the disclosed technology may be performed not only in chronological order according to the order described, but also in parallel or individually as required by the processing capacity of the device performing the processes.

[0031] For example, data exchange between components of an acoustic signal control device may occur directly or via a storage unit (not shown).

[0032] [Programs, recording media] The processing of each part of the acoustic signal control device described above may be implemented by a computer. In this case, the processing content of the functions that each device should have is described by a program. This program is then loaded into the memory unit 1020 of the computer 1000 shown in Figure 5, and the arithmetic processing unit 1010, input unit 1030, output unit 1040, display unit 1060, etc. are operated, thereby realizing the various processing functions of each of the above devices on the computer.

[0033] The program describing this process can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Computer-readable recording media are, for example, non-temporary recording media, specifically magnetic recording devices, optical discs, etc.

[0034] Furthermore, this program may be distributed, for example, by selling, transferring, or lending portable recording media such as DVDs or CD-ROMs on which the program is recorded. Alternatively, the program may be stored in the storage device of a server computer and distributed by transferring the program from the server computer to other computers via a network.

[0035] A computer executing such a program first stores the program recorded on a portable recording medium or transferred from a server computer in its own non-temporary storage device, the auxiliary recording unit 1050. Then, when processing is to be executed, the computer reads the program stored in the auxiliary recording unit 1050 into the storage unit 1020 and executes the processing according to the loaded program. Alternatively, the computer may directly read the program from the portable recording medium into the storage unit 1020 and execute the processing according to that program. Furthermore, each time a program is transferred to this computer from a server computer, it may sequentially execute the processing according to the received program. Alternatively, the above processing may be executed by a so-called ASP (Application Service Provider) type service, where the server computer does not transfer programs to this computer, but the processing function is realized only by execution instructions and result acquisition. In this embodiment, the program includes information used for processing by an electronic computer that is equivalent to a program (data that is not a direct instruction to the computer but has the property of defining the processing of the computer).

[0036] Furthermore, in this configuration, the device is configured by executing a predetermined program on a computer, but at least a part of these processing contents may be implemented in hardware. For example, at least one of the character trait acquisition unit 1 and the acoustic signal control unit 2 may be configured by a processing circuit.

[0037] It goes without saying that the invention may be modified as appropriate without departing from its spirit.

[0038] All documents, patent applications, and technical standards described herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual document, patent application, and technical standard were specifically and individually described as being incorporated by reference.

Claims

1. The personality trait acquisition unit performs a personality trait acquisition step to acquire the user's personality traits, The acoustic signal control unit controls the input acoustic signal based on the acquired characteristics, in an acoustic signal control step, Includes, The control of the aforementioned acoustic signal involves controlling the amount of noise suppression or the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation, according to the user's extroversion. A method for controlling acoustic signals.

2. A method for controlling an acoustic signal according to claim 1, In the personality trait acquisition step, the user's personality traits are acquired based on the results of a questionnaire administered to the user in advance. A method for controlling acoustic signals.

3. A method for controlling an acoustic signal according to claim 1 or 2, In the acoustic signal control step, control is performed such that (a) the amount of noise cancellation suppression when the personality traits indicate that the user is highly extroverted is greater than the amount of noise cancellation suppression when this is not the case, or (b) the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation when the personality traits indicate that the user is highly extroverted is less than the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation when this is not the case. A method for controlling acoustic signals.

4. A personality trait acquisition step in which the personality trait acquisition unit acquires the personality traits of the user, The acoustic signal control unit controls the input acoustic signal based on the acquired characteristics, in an acoustic signal control step, A method for controlling acoustic signals, including, In the aforementioned acoustic signal control step, if the personality traits indicate that the user is highly sincere, the control is performed to generate a binaural beat. A method for controlling acoustic signals.

5. A personality trait acquisition unit that acquires the user's personality traits, Based on the acquired characteristics, an acoustic signal control unit controls the input acoustic signal, Includes, The control of the aforementioned acoustic signal involves controlling the amount of noise suppression or the amount of external sound taken in during noise cancellation, according to the user's extroversion. Acoustic signal control device.

6. A personality trait acquisition unit that acquires the personality traits of the user, Based on the acquired characteristics, an acoustic signal control unit controls the input acoustic signal, Includes, The acoustic signal control unit is controlled to generate binaural beats when the personality traits indicate that the user is highly sincere. Acoustic signal control device.

7. A program for causing a computer to perform the processing of each step of the acoustic signal control method according to claim 1 or 4.

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