In-Vehicle Voice Guidance Volume Control During Command Speech
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In navigation apparatuses with voice assistant functions, the voice guidance volume often fluctuates or becomes excessively loud due to noise levels and user speech, causing auditory discomfort and making it difficult for users to hear the guidance clearly.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus comprising a noise detector, a command speech detector, and a volume controller. The noise detector measures the noise level inside a vehicle, the command speech detector identifies the period between the detection of a wake-up word and the user's command speech, and the volume controller adjusts the output volume based on the noise level only when it is not detected during the command speech period.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the volume of voice guidance is controlled based on noise level detection, then the user can hear the guidance in noisy driving conditions, but the voice guidance volume becomes excessively loud or fluctuates when user speech is detected as noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the detection process by introducing a command speech detector that distinguishes between user command speech and background noise. The noise detector is divided into two functional paths: one for detecting background noise levels (when no command speech is detected) and one for detecting command speech periods (when wake-up words are spoken). This segmentation prevents user speech from being misclassified as background noise, resolving the contradiction between maintaining guidance audibility and preventing auditory discomfort.
2Reliability
If the volume is adjusted in real-time based on detected noise levels, then the guidance remains audible during driving, but the volume changes suddenly making it difficult to hear the guidance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic volume control that adapts to actual driving conditions through continuous noise level monitoring. The volume controller dynamically adjusts guidance volume based on detected background noise levels, engine sound levels, and road noise conditions. This dynamic adjustment ensures the guidance remains audible throughout various driving scenarios while maintaining stability by only adjusting volume when commanded by the navigation system, not during user speech periods.
3Measurement precision
If the noise detector continuously monitors all sounds in the vehicle, then accurate noise level detection is achieved, but user command speech is misidentified as noise causing volume fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a command speech detector as an intermediary component between the noise detector and the volume controller. This intermediary detects wake-up words and command speech periods, then provides this information to the noise detector to exclude command speech from noise level calculations. This intermediary layer ensures accurate noise level measurement by filtering out user speech, preventing misidentification of commands as background noise while maintaining precise noise detection for volume control.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus controls volume so that a user can reliably hear voice guidance and other audio without auditory discomfort and with certainty. A noise detector detects a noise level in a vehicle interior collected in a sound collector, and a command speech detector detects whether it is a command speech period, which is a period from detection of a wake-up word from the user's speech sound to the detection of user's command speech. A volume controller, which sets volume of sounds to be output to the user based on the noise level when the noise level is not detected during the command speech period, and does not set the volume of the sounds based on the noise level when the noise level is detected during the command speech period.