Sound Receiver with Multi-Size Apertures for Spatial Audio Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hearing aids do not provide locational information of sound, making it difficult for individuals with hearing loss to distinguish sounds from different directions, such as front and back, in environments like a cocktail party.
Innovation Solution
A personal audio system comprising a sound receiver and sound delivery device with a unique sound collecting structure featuring openings of different sizes on its surface, which converts ambient sound into electronic signals and allows users to differentiate sound sources based on pitch, enabling them to determine the relative position of sound sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional hearing aids use two microphones paired with two speakers at left and right sides, then users can distinguish sound from left and right sides, but users cannot distinguish sounds from other directions such as front and back
Solution Approach 1:
The sound collecting structure is divided into multiple segments with different opening orientations (front, rear, left, right sides). Each segment captures sound from a specific direction, and the segmentation allows the system to determine sound source location by comparing signals from different segments without requiring multiple complete microphone-speaker pairs
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional left-right sound collection configuration to a three-dimensional omnidirectional configuration by adding front and rear openings to the sound collecting structure, enabling sound source localization in multiple spatial dimensions
2Reliability
If conventional hearing aids provide basic sound amplification, then users can hear better, but users lose locational information of sound
Solution Approach 1:
The sound collecting structure with its multi-directional openings acts as an intermediary that preserves spatial information about sound sources. By capturing sound from multiple directions and transmitting these differentiated signals to the user, it maintains locational information that would otherwise be lost in conventional amplification systems
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the conventional direct microphone-to-speaker transmission system with an intermediate sound collecting structure that processes sound spatially before transmission. This substitution enables the system to preserve and convey locational information through the physical structure's geometric properties
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 distinguish and locate sound sources by pitch, effectively categorizing sound sources into specific quadrants, improving sound perception and navigation in complex auditory environments.
Implementation Method 1
a sound receiver configured to receive ambient sound and convert the sound into audio signal
Data Source
AI summary
A personal audio system enabling a user to distinguish approximate locations of sound sources comprises at least one sound receiver. The sound receiver comprises a sound collecting structure for collecting sound. The sound collecting structure comprises a plurality of sound passages opening toward different directions and with different sizes to collect sound waves from the environment. The different sizes of the openings render a decline or an increase in specific frequency ranges of sound as a result of different resonances via the different openings. The user may therefore distinguish the direction of a sound source based on the slightly different pitches (frequencies) of the sound.