Spatial Audio Privacy Masks for Public Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
In spatial audio capture, there are challenges related to privacy protection, particularly in public places where the ambience capture may include private conversations of adjacent users, jeopardizing the privacy of individuals.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that receive spatial audio capture requirements, determine the position and orientation of user devices, generate privacy masks based on these requirements and device positions, and transmit these masks to the user devices to control spatial audio capture regions and actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If spatial audio capture is performed in public places to capture ambience, then the audio quality and spatial coverage are improved, but the privacy of adjacent users is compromised due to inadvertent recording of private conversations
Solution Approach 1:
The audio capture space is segmented into multiple directional regions using beamforming technology. Each region can be independently controlled to capture or suppress audio from specific directions, allowing the system to capture ambience from certain areas while excluding private conversations from others.
Solution Approach 2:
Different audio capture characteristics are applied to different spatial regions. The system creates zone-specific audio policies where some directions capture high-fidelity audio while other directions apply privacy protection, enabling localized quality control throughout the capture environment.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If privacy masks are generated and applied to control spatial audio capture regions, then privacy protection is improved, but the device complexity increases due to position determination and mask generation processes
Solution Approach 1:
Privacy masks are generated in advance based on predetermined privacy zones and device positions before audio capture begins. This preliminary generation of masks eliminates the need for real-time complex calculations during capture, reducing computational complexity while maintaining privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
A privacy service acts as an intermediary between user devices and the audio capture system. This service handles the complex tasks of position determination, mask generation, and policy enforcement, simplifying the implementation for individual devices while providing comprehensive privacy protection.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If beamforming is used to attenuate sound signals in specific spatial regions, then privacy protection is improved, but the audio capture flexibility is reduced due to directional constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The beamforming parameters and privacy mask configurations are dynamically adjustable based on the spatial distribution of users, device movements, and captured audio characteristics. This allows the system to adapt privacy zones and capture regions in real-time, maintaining both privacy protection and audio capture flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio capture system is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: capturing ambience, recording directional audio, and enforcing privacy policies all within the same framework. The beamformer can switch between different capture modes and privacy configurations based on environmental context.
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 solution effectively protects the privacy of individuals by controlling audio capture based on device relationships and positions, ensuring that private conversations are not inadvertently recorded in public spaces.
Implementation Method 1
capturing according to the one or more privacy masks comprises acoustically steering a beamformer to attenuate a sound signal in a spatial audio capture region defined by the one or more privacy masks
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving spatial audio capture requirement(s) of one or more user devices; determining position and/or orientation information of the one or more user devices; generating one or more privacy masks at least partly based on the spatial audio capture requirement(s) and position and/or orientation information of the one or more user devices; and transmitting the generated privacy masks to the one or more user devices.