Transparent Audio Mode for Vehicles Using Beamforming
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Solution Overview
Problem
The reproduction of soundfields by infotainment systems in vehicles diminishes the operator's awareness of the environment, leading to potential safety hazards due to masked road noise and external sounds like sirens or pedestrians.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system that uses externally disposed microphones to capture audio data, performs beamforming to identify and isolate external audio objects, and reproduces these objects internally through speakers, enhancing the operator's awareness of potential hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the infotainment system reproduces soundfield via loudspeakers, then immersion for occupants is increased, but the operator's awareness of external environment is diminished
Solution Approach 1:
The audio signal is segmented into different spatial components using beamforming. External audio objects are separated from road noise and infotainment content through directional processing, allowing selective reproduction of hazardous sounds while maintaining immersion from other audio sources.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple microphones positioned around the vehicle act as intermediaries to capture external sounds. These microphones receive audio signals from various directions, enabling the system to identify and reproduce hazardous sounds from the external environment while the infotainment system continues to provide immersive audio.
2Adaptability or versatility
If road noise and infotainment soundfield are reproduced internally, then entertainment experience is enhanced, but safety hazard detection is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Different audio processing is applied to different spatial locations. Sounds originating from hazardous directions (e.g., sirens, pedestrians, cross-traffic) are identified through beamforming and reproduced with enhanced clarity, while other audio content maintains its original characteristics for entertainment purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio signal undergoes spatial filtering that changes its directional characteristics. Beamforming creates directional audio beams that highlight hazardous sounds from specific directions, effectively 'coloring' the audio landscape to draw attention to safety-relevant sources while preserving other audio content.
3Loss of information
If multiple microphones are used to capture external audio objects, then environmental awareness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple microphone signals are merged through beamforming processing to create directional audio beams. The signals from multiple microphones are combined with specific time delays and weightings to enhance sounds from particular directions, enabling environmental awareness without requiring complex individual microphone processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a spatial dimension to audio processing by using the positional information from multiple microphones around the vehicle. Beamforming exploits the spatial arrangement of microphones to create directional sensitivity, transforming the problem from analyzing individual microphone signals to processing spatial audio patterns.
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
This system increases the operator's awareness of external safety hazards, allowing for safer vehicle operation by clearly reproducing audio objects like pedestrians or vehicles, even when occluded, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.
Implementation Method 1
microphones externally disposed around a body of the vehicle, where such microphones capture audio signals (or, in other words, audio data) representative of a sound scene external to the vehicle
Implementation Method 2
The vehicle may then perform beamforming with respect to the audio data to obtain object audio data representative of an audio object in the sound scene external to the vehicle
Implementation Method 3
The vehicle may then reproduce, via one or more speakers within the vehicle and based on the object audio data, the audio object
Data Source
AI summary
In general, techniques are described by which to enable a transparency mode in vehicles. A device comprising one or more microphones and one or more processors may be configured to perform the techniques. The microphones may capture audio data representative of a sound scene external to a vehicle. The processors may perform beamforming with respect to the audio data to obtain object audio data representative of an audio object in the sound scene external to the vehicle. The processors may next reproduce, by interfacing with one or more speakers included within the vehicle and based on the object audio data, the audio object in the sound scene external to the vehicle.