Wearable Voice Collar With Beamforming for Clear Speech Amplification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hypophonia, a symptom of neurological disorders like Parkinson's and Multiple sclerosis, makes it difficult for patients to speak loudly and articulate, with existing personal PA devices often failing to provide sufficient amplification without causing feedback or amplifying background noise, especially in noisy environments.
Innovation Solution
A wearable voice enhancement device with a unique collar design featuring directional microphones and speakers, signal processing, and electronic components that include beamforming, automatic gain control, adaptive filtering, and diphthong modification to amplify and clarify the voice while minimizing feedback and background noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If omnidirectional microphones are used to capture voice, then the device is less sensitive to head turning, but more ambient background sound is picked up
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses directional microphones with specific pickup patterns (cardioid, supercardioid, or figure-eight) that are optimized for capturing sound from the front while rejecting sound from other directions. This local optimization of microphone directional characteristics solves the contradiction by providing directionality without requiring omnidirectional coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetric microphone positioning and directional patterns rather than symmetric omnidirectional capture. The microphones are positioned and oriented to create an asymmetric pickup pattern that favors the front direction, thereby reducing background noise while maintaining adaptability to head movements through electronic beamforming adjustments.
2Power
If amplification is increased to effective levels, then voice amplitude is sufficient, but feedback and howl occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements electronic feedback cancellation systems that detect feedback signals and generate anti-phase signals to cancel them out. This allows the system to maintain high amplification levels necessary for effective voice projection while actively suppressing feedback and howling through real-time signal processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dynamic gain control and adaptive filtering that adjusts amplification levels in real-time based on the acoustic environment. The system dynamically modifies signal processing parameters to prevent feedback while maintaining sufficient voice amplitude, rather than using fixed high-gain amplification.
3Power
If amplification is increased in noisy environments, then voice amplitude is sufficient, but background noise is also amplified making intelligibility worse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different processing gains to different frequency bands and spatial directions. Voice frequencies are amplified more than background noise frequencies, and sounds from the front direction are amplified more than sounds from other directions. This local differentiation in gain application maintains voice intelligibility while suppressing background noise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes signal processing parameters including gain, filter characteristics, and beamforming patterns based on the detected acoustic environment. When background noise is detected, the system adjusts parameters to favor voice frequencies and directions, thereby maintaining effective amplification while reducing noise amplification.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If directional microphones are used to reduce background noise, then noise pickup is reduced, but sensitivity to head turning increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses electronically controllable beamforming that can dynamically adjust the directional pickup pattern in response to head movements. Sensors detect head orientation and the system electronically steers the microphone array's sensitivity pattern to track the user's face direction, maintaining noise rejection while adapting to head turns without mechanical movement.
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 device effectively amplifies and clarifies the voice, improving intelligibility for patients with hypophonia by reducing background noise and feedback, even in challenging environments, and is designed to be comfortable and easy to use for individuals with mobility limitations.
Implementation Method 1
a right channel beam forming function, a left channel beam forming function
Implementation Method 2
a right-channel automatic gain control amplifier with thresholding, a left-channel automatic gain control amplifier with thresholding
Implementation Method 3
a right-channel adaptive filter, a left-channel adaptive filter
Data Source
AI summary
A voice enhancing device amplifies and clarifies the voice of a user with hypophonia or other voice issues. The device includes a collar of either rigid or a soft material that is shaped to comfortably sit on the shoulders of the user. One or more microphone arrays are adjustably mounted to the collar to capture audio of the user talking. An electronics module enhances the captured audio signal and generates an enhanced audio signal that drives at least one speaker adjustably attached to the collar. The electronic controller implements one or more of an AGC amplifier to correct amplitude variation in spoked words, adaptive filtering to actively filter out background noise, a variable attack and decay function to improve intelligibility of the spoken words, a diphthong modification function to clarify the spoken words, and an echo cancelation function to reduce echo and feedback in the enhanced audio.