Audio Processing Using Hand Gesture Acoustic Shadowing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spatial audio technologies require specialized microphone arrangements with four or more microphones to achieve high-quality spatial audio, which can be cumbersome and impractical in certain scenarios.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize user-controlled obstructions, such as hand gestures, to create a frequency-dependent filter based on the difference in audio input between obstructed and unobstructed microphones, allowing for selective amplification or attenuation of audio sources without the need for complex microphone arrays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If specialized microphone arrangements with four or more microphones are used, then spatial audio quality is improved, but device complexity and practicality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the functions of multiple microphones into a single microphone by using acoustic shadowing effects. The hand gesture creates an acoustic shadow that selectively blocks sounds from different directions, allowing one microphone to capture spatially differentiated audio information that would traditionally require multiple microphones.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hand gesture as an intermediary element between the audio source and the microphone. This intermediary creates acoustic shadows that modulate the sound waves reaching the microphone, encoding spatial information without requiring a complex microphone array.
2Measurement precision
If four or more microphones are arranged in specific configurations, then spatial positioning accuracy is improved, but ease of operation and setup deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the user's own hand as the acoustic shadowing element, eliminating the need for complex microphone array setup. The user simply performs a hand gesture in front of a single microphone, and the system automatically creates the spatial filtering effect without requiring precise positioning or calibration of multiple microphones.
3Loss of information
If multiple microphones are used to capture spatial audio, then audio source separation capability is improved, but loss of substance and data requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts spatial information from the acoustic shadow pattern created by the hand gesture. Instead of using multiple microphones to capture different spatial perspectives, the system extracts directional information from the frequency-dependent attenuation pattern created by the hand's position relative to the single microphone.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the creation of spatially dependent audio filtering that amplifies or attenuates audio sources, providing a more practical and flexible solution for achieving spatial audio effects without the need for multiple microphones.
Implementation Method 1
The frequency dependent filter is based on a difference in spectrum of the audio input between the at least one obstructed microphone and the at least one unobstructed microphone caused by acoustic shadowing by the, at least partial, user-controlled obstruction
Data Source
Figure 1A~2C
Figure 3~4
Figure 5A~6B
AI summary
Apparatus comprising means for: detecting user input indicating a presence of a user-controlled obstruction that obstructs at least one microphone; receiving obstructed audio input from at least one obstructed microphone when a user is providing an, at least partial, obstruction between the at least one obstructed microphone and a first region; receiving unobstructed audio input from at least one unobstructed microphone when the user is not providing the, at least partial, obstruction between the at least one unobstructed microphone and the first region; comparing the obstructed audio input and the unobstructed audio input; creating a frequency dependent filter in dependence upon the comparison; filtering received audio input from the at least one microphone to create filtered audio that amplifies or attenuates an audio source in the first region.