Directionality Control System for Sound Privacy Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing directionality control systems fail to effectively suppress the leakage of sounds from privacy areas, leading to inadequate privacy protection when sounds from within these areas are intended to be kept confidential.
Innovation Solution
A directionality control system that includes an image capture section, sound collecting section, display section, sound output section, memory for storing positional information of privacy areas, and a detection section that emphasizes sounds in specific directions to determine if utterances have occurred within privacy areas, controlling sound output to prevent leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If directionality is formed toward a target position, then sound collecting performance at the target is improved, but sound leakage from privacy areas occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the spatial area into multiple regions: a target area for sound collection and multiple privacy areas for sound suppression. By segmenting the space and applying different directionality control strategies to different segments, the system achieves both high sound collection performance at the target and effective sound leakage prevention in privacy areas
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different directionality characteristics to different spatial locations. At the target position, the system forms a main beam for high-gain sound collection, while at privacy area positions, it forms nulls for sound suppression. This local differentiation of directionality quality enables simultaneous optimization of sound collection and privacy protection
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sound suppression is applied in privacy areas, then privacy protection is improved, but sound collecting capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the directionality pattern based on the relative positions of the target and privacy areas. When a target is designated, the system calculates optimal beamforming weights that simultaneously achieve main beam formation toward the target and null formation in privacy areas, adapting the suppression strength according to spatial relationships rather than applying fixed suppression
3Measurement precision
If directionality is formed close to privacy areas, then sound collecting at target is improved, but privacy protection becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system proactively prevents sound leakage by forming nulls in privacy areas before sound can leak into the target direction. By anticipating potential leakage paths and pre-establishing suppression zones in privacy areas, the system blocks sound at its source rather than attempting to filter it later, ensuring both accurate target sound collection and reliable privacy protection
Data Source
AI summary
In a directionality control system, a camera device captures a video of image capture area. A microphone array device collects a sound in image capture area. A signal processing section detects a sound source of the sound in image capture area, which is collected by the microphone array device. In a case where the detected sound source is within a range of privacy area, an output control section controls the sound in image capture area, which is collected by the microphone array device and is output from speaker device.