Sound reproduction for a multiplicity of listeners

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017195815-A1
Application number	US-201715398139-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 4, 2017
Priority date	Jan 4, 2016
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

The sound reproduction includes generating from a customized audio signal an acoustically isolated sound field at a position dependent on a sound field position control signal; providing a listening position signal representing a position of a listener and a listener identification signal representing the identity of the listener; and processing the listening position signal, the listener identification signal, and an audio signal. The sound reproduction further includes controlling, via the sound field position control signal, the position of the sound field dependent on the listening position signal so that the position of the sound field is at the position of the listener; and processing the audio signal according to an audio setting dependent on the identity of the listener to provide the customized audio signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A sound reproduction system comprising:
a loudspeaker arrangement configured to generate from a customized audio signal an acoustically isolated sound field at a position dependent on a sound field position control signal; a listener evaluation block configured to provide a listening position signal representing a position of a listener and a listener identification signal representing an identity of the listener; and an audio control block configured to receive and process the listening position signal, the listener identification signal and an audio signal; the audio control block being further configured to control, via the sound field position control signal, the position of the sound field dependent on the listening position signal so that the position of the sound field is at the position of the listener, and to process the audio signal according to an audio setting dependent on the identity of the listener to provide the customized audio signal.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio control block is further configured to perform at least one of adjusting a balance between spectral components of the audio signal, adjusting a volume of the audio signal, and adjusting dynamics of the audio signal.

3 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a microphone arrangement disposed at the position of the listener, wherein:
the loudspeaker arrangement is further configured to generate a sound beam sweeping an area including the position of the listener;
the listener evaluation block is wirelessly connected or connected by wire to the microphone arrangement;
the microphone arrangement is configured to pick up the sound beam when sweeping the position of the listener and to provide a corresponding microphone signal; and
the listener evaluation block is further configured to evaluate the microphone signal and a corresponding beam position to provide the listening position signal.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein:
the microphone arrangement is further configured to provide a microphone identification signal corresponding to the identity of a specific listener; and the listener evaluation block is further configured to identify the specific listener from the microphone identification signal and to generate the corresponding listener identification signal.

5 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a memory configured to store data representing identities of a multiplicity of listeners and corresponding audio settings, wherein the audio control block is further configured to select, based on the listener identification signal, the corresponding audio settings for processing the audio signal.

6 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a default audio setup and a default sound zone that are employed if no known listener is identified.

7 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a camera connected to the audio control block and directed to an area including the position of the listener, the audio control block being configured to recognize gestures of the listener via the camera and to control according to the recognized gestures at least one of processing the audio signal and configuring a sound zone.

8 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a microphone array that includes a multiplicity of microphones, wherein:
the microphone array is configured to pick up sound from the position of the listener and to provide a corresponding microphone signal; and
the listener evaluation block is connected to the microphone array, the listener evaluation block being configured to evaluate the microphone signal to evaluate a direction of the listening position signal.

9 . A sound reproduction method comprising:
generating from a customized audio signal, an acoustically isolated sound field at a position dependent on a sound field position control signal; providing a listening position signal representing a position of a listener and a listener identification signal representing an identity of the listener; processing the listening position signal, the listener identification signal, and an audio signal; controlling, via the sound field position control signal, the position of the sound field dependent on the listening position signal so that the position of the sound field is at the position of the listener; and processing the audio signal according to an audio setting dependent on the identity of the listener to provide the customized audio signal.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein processing the audio signal according to the audio setting includes at least one of adjusting a balance between spectral components of the audio signal, adjusting a volume of the audio signal, and adjusting dynamics of the audio signal.

11 . The method of claim 9 further comprising:
disposing a microphone arrangement at the position of the listener;
generating a sound beam sweeping an area including the position of the listener;
picking up the sound beam when sweeping the position of the listener to provide a corresponding microphone signal; and
evaluating the microphone signal and a corresponding beam position to provide the listening position signal.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
providing with the microphone signal, a microphone identification signal corresponding to the identity of a specific listener; identifying the specific listener from the microphone identification signal; and generating the corresponding listener identification signal.

13 . The method of claim 9 further comprising:
storing data representing identities of a multiplicity of listeners and corresponding audio settings; and
selecting, based on the listener identification signal, the corresponding audio settings for processing the audio signal.

14 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
picking up sound from the position of the listener and providing a corresponding microphone signal; and evaluating the microphone signal to evaluate a direction of the listening position signal.

15 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
recognizing with a camera directed to an area including the position of the listener, gestures of the listener; and controlling, according to the recognized gestures, at least one of processing the audio signal and configuring the sound field.

16 . A sound reproduction system comprising:
a loudspeaker arrangement configured to generate an acoustically isolated sound field at a position based on a sound field position control signal from a customized audio signal; a listener evaluation block configured to provide a listening position signal indicative of a position of a listener and a listener identification signal indicative of an identity of the listener; and an audio control block configured to:
receive the listening position signal, the listener identification signal, and an audio signal;
control the position of the sound field based on the listening position signal so that the position of the sound field is at the position of the listener based on the sound field position control signal; and
process the audio signal according to an audio setting based on the identity of the listener to provide the customized audio signal.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the audio control block is further configured to perform at least one of adjusting a balance between spectral components of the audio signal, adjusting a volume of the audio signal, and adjusting dynamics of the audio signal.

18 . The system of claim 16 further comprising a microphone arr

Assignees

• Harman Becker Automotive Systems Gmbh

Inventors

• Christoph Markus
• Gunther Craig
• Kronlachner Matthias
• Zollner Juergen

Classifications

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• H04S2400/13

  Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in stereophonic sound systems · CPC title

• H04S7/301

  Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone · CPC title

• H04R5/02

  Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers · CPC title

• H04S7/303 Primary

  Tracking of listener position or orientation · CPC title