Venue Hearing-Assist Audio Tuning for Speech Intelligibility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hearing-assist systems in performance venues fail to effectively reduce psychoacoustic conflicts between ambient and electronically transmitted sounds, leading to poor sound quality and speech intelligibility for hearing-impaired individuals, as they are not optimized for large performance environments and often result in confusing interference between sound waves propagated through air and electronically transmitted signals.
Innovation Solution
A hearing-assist system that improves voice signals by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and reducing bass signals using signal processing techniques, such as high-pass filtering, companding, and introducing delays to synchronize electronically customized sound with ambient sound, thereby reducing psychoacoustic effects and improving speech intelligibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional hearing-assist systems amplify all sound frequencies equally, then the overall volume is increased for hearing-impaired users, but speech intelligibility deteriorates due to masking by music and ambient noises
Solution Approach 1:
The audio spectrum is divided into multiple frequency bands, with speech-relevant frequencies (500-4000 Hz) being selectively amplified while other bands are treated differently. This segmentation allows the system to enhance speech intelligibility without uniformly amplifying all frequencies, thereby reducing masking effects from music and ambient noises.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality enhancements are applied to different frequency regions. The system applies targeted amplification and noise reduction specifically to speech frequency bands, while allowing music and other non-speech frequencies to pass through with minimal processing. This local quality approach ensures that speech intelligibility is improved without sacrificing overall audio quality.
2Reliability
If hearing-assist systems transmit electronically processed sound to headsets, then speech can be amplified, but psychoacoustic conflicts arise due to interference between electronically transmitted sound and ambient sound propagated through air
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes problematic low-frequency bass signals that cause psychoacoustic conflicts and masking effects. By taking out these harmful frequency components before transmission to the headset, the system reduces interference between electronic and ambient sound while maintaining speech intelligibility in the transmitted signal.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the harmful psychoacoustic interference into a benefit by using adaptive processing to synchronize the timing and spectral characteristics of electronically transmitted sound with ambient sound. This conversion reduces the perceptible conflict and allows hearing-impaired users to benefit from both the amplified speech and the natural acoustic environment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If hearing-assist systems are designed for home, museum, or classroom environments, then they work well in those settings, but they fail to optimize sound quality in large performance venues with complex acoustics
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic, adaptive processing that automatically adjusts to the acoustic characteristics of the performance venue and the specific performance being attended. Rather than being statically optimized for a single environment type, the system dynamically adapts its filtering, amplification, and noise reduction parameters based on real-time acoustic conditions, making it versatile across different performance venues while maintaining high sound quality optimization.
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
The system significantly enhances the perception and intelligibility of speech signals, allowing hearing-impaired individuals to clearly hear dialogue and singing, even in noisy environments, by customizing sound to emphasize dialogue and de-emphasize bass-heavy music, thereby improving the overall audio experience.
Implementation Method 1
improves voice signals by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and reducing bass signals using signal processing techniques, such as high-pass filtering
Implementation Method 2
applying companding to reduce dynamic ranges of audio signals within multiple frequency bands
Implementation Method 3
introducing delays to synchronize electronically customized sound with ambient sound, thereby reducing psychoacoustic effects
Data Source
AI summary
To enable a patron of a venue attending a performance to feel as if he or she is ‘front and center’ even if located much farther away or angled from a stage of the venue, system and methods that enhance audio quality of audio signals especially over the voice frequency spectrum to generate a processed audio signal including an increased voice frequency spectrum are provided. The processed audio signal may be communicated to a receiving system with a headset or other transducer (e.g., loudspeakers) that allows for ambient sounds to be heard by a patron and for the patron to control volume of the processed audio signal, thereby mixing the processed audio signal with the ambient sounds. The receiving system may be rented and an operator may control usage for both performance or long-term rentals using various control features of the processed audio signals and/or receiving system.