Auditory Augmented Reality With Component-Level Noise Cancellation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional noise cancellation techniques either isolate users from ambient sounds, missing important sounds of interest or expose them to undesirable noise, detracting from the listening experience.
Innovation Solution
A system that selectively attenuates or removes specific sounds from the ambient environment using active noise cancellation, generating inverse sound signals to cancel bleeding sounds and combining them with desired audio sources to create a composite signal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If all ambient sounds are canceled using active noise cancellation, then unwanted noise is removed, but important sounds of interest are also blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ambient sound field into multiple independent sound sources using microphone arrays and beamforming techniques. Each sound source is identified, classified, and processed separately, allowing selective cancellation of unwanted sounds while preserving important ambient sounds that would otherwise be canceled by conventional approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing qualities to different spatial locations and sound sources. By determining the origin and characteristics of each sound source, the system applies localized noise cancellation only to specific unwanted sounds while maintaining the original quality of important ambient sounds, creating a non-uniform sound modification across the auditory field.
2Loss of information
If the entire ambient environment is reproduced, then sounds of interest are preserved, but undesirable noise is also exposed to the user
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes specific unwanted sound sources from the reproduced ambient environment. By identifying and isolating undesirable noise sources through sound source separation and classification, the system extracts only the harmful components for cancellation while preserving and reproducing the remaining desirable ambient sounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts the reproduction of ambient sounds based on real-time analysis of sound sources. The system continuously monitors the ambient environment, identifies unwanted sounds, and dynamically modifies the reproduced audio signal to cancel only the harmful components while preserving important sounds, creating an adaptive and flexible noise management system.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If selective noise cancellation is applied to specific sound sources, then unwanted sounds are removed, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial noise cancellation by focusing computational resources on identifying and canceling only the most prominent or problematic sound sources rather than attempting to cancel all ambient sounds. This selective approach reduces computational complexity while still achieving effective noise reduction for the most troublesome sounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs automatic sound source classification and identification algorithms that autonomously analyze and categorize ambient sounds without requiring manual input. The system self-adjusts its noise cancellation parameters based on real-time acoustic environment analysis, reducing the need for complex manual configuration and simplifying system operation.
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 users to hear desired audio sources while selectively avoiding unwanted ambient sounds, enhancing the listening experience by preventing the perception of unwanted noise.
Implementation Method 1
generating, based on the first component signal, a first inverse signal that is a polar inverse of the first component signal
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for auditory augmented reality using selective noise cancellation include receiving an input signal capturing an ambient auditory environment; separating the input signal into a set of audio signals that includes first and second component signals; and in response to generating the set of audio signals: generating a context-sensitive user interface that displays a plurality of first controls for modifying the first component signal and a plurality of second controls for modifying the second component signal, the plurality of first controls being independent from the plurality of second controls; receiving, from a user, a selection to remove the first component signal; and in response to receiving the selection: removing the first component signal from the set of audio signals to generate a modified set of audio signals that includes the second component signal; and driving an audio output device to generate sound based on the modified set of audio signals.