JP2007264436A - Sound masking device, sound masking method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sound masking device etc., that enables a user to judge the circumferential situation from a mask sound. <P>SOLUTION: The sound masking device 100 which masks a sound not to be heard by a circumferential person comprises an environmental sound generation section 101 which acquires a circumferential sound S104 consisting of sounds generated around the user and removes the secret sound S102 not to be heard by the circumferential person from the circumferential sound S104 to generate an environmental sound S100 indicating the state of the circumference of the user, a mask sound generation section 102 which amplifies the environmental sound S100 to generate the mask sound for masking the secret sound S102, and an output section 103 which outputs the mask sound S101 to the position where the secret sound S102 is present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sound masking device that masks sounds that are not desired to be heard by people in the vicinity (hereinafter referred to as “secret sounds”) with natural sounds that are not noticed by the people in order to protect privacy. About. In particular, the present invention relates to a sound masking device or the like that allows a user who emits a secret sound to determine the surrounding situation using a mask sound.

  As a first conventional technique, when a driver of a car is in a call state, the voice from the other party is prevented from being heard by a passenger in the passenger seat of the car, and privacy protection and confidentiality are realized. There is a device that provides a hands-free communication device suitable for a secret purpose (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this conventional technology, in order to suppress discomfort for passengers, a mask sound is created by using air-conditioner sound, road noise, or music flowing from car audio, which is a sound existing in the car, and the mask sound is generated. By playing, the voice from the other party is masked.

  As a second conventional technique, when using an automatic depositing device, in order to input a voice to the automatic depositing device so that the third party may not know in a situation that may be heard by a third party. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

In this prior art, a mask sound is created using a musical sound that can be canceled with respect to the voice uttered by the speaker, and the input voice to the automatic depositing apparatus is masked by reproducing the mask sound.
JP 2004-96664 A (Claim 1, Claim 4 to Claim 6, FIG. 3) JP-A-9-305196 (Claim 1, FIG. 1)

  However, in the first prior art, the masking sound also masks an important sound outside the vehicle, such as a motorcycle sound and an emergency vehicle siren sound. For this reason, the driver of the automobile cannot judge the situation around the automobile by sound, and the safety may be lowered. For example, in a taxi, if a masking sound is output to a taxi driver to mask passenger conversation, that is, the taxi driver may not be able to hear sounds outside the vehicle, which may hinder safe driving. is there. The mask sound is composed of a specific sound. For this reason, the driver cannot judge the situation of all the sounds existing around the driver. For example, when the siren sound is used as the mask sound, the driver may not be able to hear the driving sound of surrounding motorcycles and automobiles other than the siren sound, which may reduce safety.

  In the second prior art, surrounding sounds and footsteps are masked by the musical sound that is the mask sound. For this reason, the user of the automatic depositing apparatus cannot judge the surrounding situation with sound, and cannot use the automatic depositing apparatus with peace of mind. For example, since the sound and footsteps around the user are also masked, the user may not be able to notice a suspicious person approaching from behind.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sound masking device or the like that allows a user to determine the surrounding situation by sound.

  In order to achieve the above object, a sound masking apparatus according to the present invention is a sound masking apparatus for masking sounds that are not desired to be heard by surrounding people, and is composed of sounds existing around a user. Environmental sound creating means for creating an environmental sound that is a sound indicating the situation of the user by removing a secret sound that is a sound that is not desired to be heard by the surrounding people from the ambient sound, and A mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking the secret sound by amplifying the environmental sound, and an output means for outputting the mask sound to a position where the secret sound exists.

  According to this configuration, the mask sound is created from all sounds existing around the user. For this reason, the user can confirm the surrounding situation with the mask sound. Therefore, the user can use various devices safely. For example, when the user is a taxi driver, the driver can check the situation outside the vehicle with the mask sound while masking the voice of the passenger. For this reason, the driver can perform safe driving.

  Preferably, the environmental sound creating means further creates the environmental sound by removing the mask sound output from the output means from the ambient sound.

  It takes time to create a mask sound in the mask sound creating means, and if there is a delay in the creation time between the mask sound created by the mask sound creating means and the environmental sound created by the environmental sound creating means, Even if the sound is deleted, the mask sound is generated with the sound having strong reverberation characteristics that is shifted over time and superimposed on the environmental sound, and is output from the output means. However, when creating a mask sound, the reverberation characteristic is reduced by removing the mask sound output from the output means. For this reason, the user can avoid being discomforted by listening to the mask sound affected by the reverberation.

  More preferably, the environmental sound creating means further creates the environmental sound by removing human voice from the ambient sound.

  As a result, since the voice can be removed from the mask sound, the voice of a person existing around the user is not used as the mask sound. Therefore, the privacy of surrounding people can be protected.

  A vehicle-mounted sound masking device according to another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle-mounted sound masking device that masks sounds that are not desired to be heard by people around, and includes sounds outside the vehicle that exist around the driver. An environmental sound that is obtained by obtaining an ambient sound composed of sounds and removing the voice of at least one of the driver and the passenger from the ambient sound, which is a sound indicating a situation around the driver Creating means, mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking the voice of at least one of the driver or the passenger by amplifying the environmental sound, and the mask sound for the driver or Output means for outputting to a position where at least one of the passenger's voices is present.

  According to this configuration, the mask sound is created using all sounds including sounds outside the vehicle. For this reason, the driver can judge the situation around the vehicle by the mask sound and can drive safely. In particular, it becomes possible to simultaneously determine a plurality of situations such as the approach of a motorcycle or an emergency vehicle using a mask sound.

  A sound masking device for ATM according to still another aspect of the present invention is a sound masking device for ATM (Automated Teller Machine) for masking a voice that is not desired to be heard by surrounding people, and is around the ATM user. Is a sound that indicates the surroundings of the user by acquiring ambient sounds composed of sounds existing in the sound and removing voice guidance output from the ATM or the user's voice from the ambient sounds An environmental sound creating means for creating an environmental sound, and a mask sound creating for amplifying the environmental sound to create a mask sound for masking at least one of the voice guidance output from the ATM or the voice of the user And an output for outputting the mask sound at a position where at least one of the voice guidance output from the ATM or the voice of the user exists. And a stage.

  According to this configuration, the mask sound is created using all sounds including the surrounding sounds and footsteps of the user. For this reason, the user can judge the surrounding situation from the mask sound and can use the ATM with peace of mind. In particular, the presence of a suspicious person approaching from behind the user can be determined from the mask sound. Also, it can be seen from the mask sound that there is no sound or footsteps, and the user can use the ATM with peace of mind.

  A sound masking device for a mobile phone according to still another aspect of the present invention is a sound masking device for a mobile phone that masks a call voice of the user of the mobile phone, and exists around the user of the mobile phone. An environmental sound creating means for obtaining an ambient sound configured from a sound and creating an environmental sound that is a sound indicating a situation around the user by removing the call voice of the user from the ambient sound; and A mask sound generating means for generating a mask sound for masking the user's call voice by amplifying the environmental sound; and an output means for outputting the mask sound to a position where the user's call voice exists. Is provided.

  According to this configuration, the mask sound is created using all sounds including the sound around the user, footsteps, motorcycle sounds, and car sounds. For this reason, the user can judge the surrounding situation from the mask sound, and can use the mobile phone with confidence. In particular, a car or motorcycle approaching the user can be determined by the mask sound.

  The present invention can be realized not only as a sound masking apparatus having such characteristic means, but also as a sound masking method using the characteristic means included in the sound masking apparatus as a step, It can also be realized as a program that causes a computer to execute the characteristic steps included in the masking method. Needless to say, such a program can be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) or a communication network such as the Internet.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a sound masking device or the like that allows a user to determine the surrounding situation with a masking sound is provided, and can be applied to a wide range of devices such as in-vehicle privacy protection devices such as taxis, ATMs, and mobile phones. Therefore, its practical value is extremely high.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the sound masking apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the case where the sound masking device according to the present invention is mounted on a taxi will be described as an example.

  The sound masking device 100 is a device that masks the secret sound S102 that is not desired to be heard by the surrounding people with a natural sound that is not noticed by the surrounding people. Unit 101, mask sound creating unit 102, and output unit 103. The environmental sound creation unit 101, the mask sound creation unit 102, and the output unit 103 correspond to the environmental sound creation unit, the mask sound creation unit, and the output unit, respectively, in the claims.

  The microphone 104 </ b> A is a device that collects ambient sound S <b> 104 that is all sounds present around the user.

  The microphone 104B is a device that collects the secret sound S102.

  The ambient sound creation unit 101 includes an ambient sound S104 collected using the microphone 104A, a secret sound S102 collected using the microphone 104B, and a mask sound S101 created by the mask sound creation unit 102 described later. Is a processing unit that creates the environmental sound S100.

  The mask sound creating unit 102 is a processing unit that creates a mask sound S101 for masking the secret sound S102 using the environmental sound S100.

  The output unit 103 is a processing unit that outputs the mask sound S101.

  Next, the operation of the sound masking apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing executed by the sound masking apparatus 100. FIG. 3 is an external view of a taxi. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the inside of a driver's seat of a taxi.

  First, the taxi driver 110 switches on the sound masking device 100 in order not to listen to private conversations between the passengers 112.

  When the sound masking device 100 is switched on, the environmental sound creation unit 101 inputs the ambient sound S104 using the microphone 104A installed on the head of the driver's seat and uses the microphone 104B installed on the rear seat. The secret sound S102 which is a conversation between 112 is input. In addition, the ambient sound creation unit 101 removes the secret sound S102, which is a conversation between the passengers 112 included in the ambient sound S104, and the mask sound S101 output by the output unit 103, from the ambient sound S104, and thereby around the driver 110. Is created (step 200).

  Here, the environmental sound S100 is created by subtracting the secret sound S102 (the conversation of the passenger 112) and the mask sound S101 created by the mask sound creation unit 102 from the ambient sound S104. Specific methods include echo cancellers (for example, “acoustic systems and digital processing”, Oga et al., IEICE, pp209-214), independent component analysis (for example, “Introduction Independent Component Analysis”, Murata, Tokyo Denki University), using conventional techniques such as auditory scene analysis. Here, the outside sound that can be heard inside the vehicle is the environmental sound S100. Specifically, a motorcycle sound around the own vehicle, an automobile running sound, an emergency vehicle siren, and the like are created as the environmental sound S100.

  Next, the mask sound creating unit 102 creates the mask sound S101 by amplifying the magnitude of the environmental sound S100 to a magnitude that the secret sound S102 is masked at the ear of the driver 110 (step 201).

  Finally, the output unit 103 outputs the mask sound S101 to the ear of the driver 110 using the speaker 105 installed at the ear of the driver 110 (step 202).

  Next, the environmental sound creation process (step 200) described above will be described.

  First, a method using an echo canceller will be described as a method for removing the secret sound S102 from the ambient sound S104.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a signal flow in the echo canceller. In this example, in order to input the ambient sound S104 around the driver 110, a microphone 104A for ambient sound collection is installed on the head of the driver seat. Further, a secret sound collecting microphone 104B is installed in the rear seat for inputting a secret sound S102 which is a conversation between passengers. The secret sound x (k) is transformed into y˜ (k) through the indoor transmission system h˜ (k) before reaching the ambient sound collecting microphone 104A. Then, ambient sound S104 in which y to (k) is mixed in addition to the environmental sound s to (k) is input to the ambient sound collecting microphone 104A. Here, the echo canceller uses the secret sound x (k) input by the secret sound collecting microphone 104B and the room transmission system h (k) obtained by the adaptive filter to collect the ambient sound collecting microphone. The ambient sound s (k) is obtained by estimating the secret sound y (k) reaching 104A and subtracting the estimated secret sound y (k) from the input ambient sound S104. The adaptive filter minimizes the difference e (k) between the estimated value y (k) of the secret sound S102 that reaches the ambient sound collecting microphone 104A and the ambient sound S104 when the environmental sound S100 is quiet. The indoor transmission system h (k) can be estimated.

  Next, a method and an effect of removing the mask sound S101 after removing the secret sound S102 from the ambient sound S104 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing temporal transitions of the environmental sound S100, the mask sound S101, and the secret sound S102. FIG. 6A shows the above-described temporal transition when there is no delay in creation time between the mask sound S101 created by the mask sound creation unit 102 and the environmental sound S100 created by the environment sound creation unit 101. ing. Since the mask sound S101 is obtained by increasing the magnitude of the environmental sound S100 at the same time, the mask sound S101 added to the environmental sound S100 is obtained by increasing the magnitude of the environmental sound S100. From this, the environmental sound S100 can be acquired by removing the secret sound S102 from the ambient sound S104.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6B shows that it takes time to create the mask sound S101 in the mask sound creating unit 102, and the mask sound S101 created by the mask sound creating unit 102 and the environmental sound S100 created by the environmental sound creating unit 101. The above-mentioned time transition is shown when there is a delay in the creation time. In this case, the mask sound S101 does not increase the magnitude of the environmental sound S100 at the same time. For this reason, in order to acquire the environmental sound S100, it is necessary to remove the mask sound S101 in addition to the secret sound S102 from the ambient sound S104. At this time, the mask sound S101 is known because it is created by the mask sound creation unit 102. Therefore, the environmental sound creation unit 101 can create the environmental sound S100 by further removing the mask sound S101 from the ambient sound S104 using an echo canceller. As described above, the environmental sound creation unit 101 removes the mask sound S101 from the ambient sound S104, so that the mask sound creation unit 102 shifts the environmental sound S100 in time and has a strong reverberation characteristic superimposed on the environmental sound S100. It is possible to avoid creating the mask sound S101 with sound. Therefore, the user of the sound masking apparatus 100 does not have to feel uncomfortable by listening to the mask sound S101 affected by reverberation.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the environmental sound creation processing (step 200) by the environmental sound creation unit 101.

  The environmental sound creation unit 101 inputs the ambient sound S104 and the secret sound S102 through the microphone 104A and the microphone 104B, respectively (step C100). Next, the environmental sound creation unit 101 removes the secret sound S102 from the ambient sound S104 (step C101). Finally, the environmental sound creation unit 101 creates the environmental sound S100 by removing the mask sound S101 from the ambient sound from which the secret sound S102 has been removed (step C102). Here, the execution order of the process of removing the secret sound S102 (step C101) and the process of removing the mask sound S101 (step C102) may be interchanged.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, since the mask sound S101 is created using all sounds including sounds outside the vehicle, the driver 110 can check the situation around the vehicle. The judgment can be made based on the mask sound S101. For this reason, a car can be driven safely. In particular, a plurality of situations such as an approaching motorcycle or emergency vehicle can be simultaneously determined by the mask sound S101.

  Note that the installation location of the microphone 104A is not limited to the head of the driver seat, and can be installed outside the vehicle. In this case, the environmental sound creation unit 101 can directly use the sound input from the microphone 104A as the environmental sound S100.

  Here, the case where the conversation of the passenger 112 is masked has been described as an example, but the conversation of the taxi driver 110 by wireless communication may be masked so that the passenger 112 cannot hear it.

  Note that the secret sound is not limited to voice, and the music that the taxi driver 110 is listening to may be masked.

(Second Embodiment)
In the second embodiment, a case where the sound masking device according to the present invention is mounted on an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) will be described as an example. The overall configuration of the sound masking device according to the second embodiment of the present invention is obtained by removing the microphone 104B from the block diagram showing the overall configuration of the sound masking device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. is there.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing executed by the sound masking apparatus 100. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a user is using an ATM. The ATM 200 is provided with a microphone 104A for collecting the ambient sound S104.

  First, the user 202 of the ATM 200 switches on the sound masking apparatus 100 so that the voice of the personal identification number used for the voice authentication and the voice guidance output from the ATM 200 are not heard by those around.

  When the sound masking device 100 is switched on, the environmental sound creation unit 101 inputs the ambient sound S104 using the microphone 104A installed in the ATM 200. In addition, the ambient sound creation unit 101 includes the ambient sound S104, the voice of the user 202 included in the ambient sound S104, the secret sound S102 that is voice guidance output from the ATM 200, the voice of the surrounding people 204, and the output unit 103. By removing the output mask sound S101, the environmental sound S100 existing around the user 202 is created (step 200). Here, it differs from the first embodiment in that the sound of the surrounding person 204 is further removed from the ambient sound S104.

  Specific methods of environmental sound creation processing (step 200) include echo cancellers (for example, “acoustic system and digital processing”, Oga et al., IEICE, pp209-214), independent component analysis (for example, , "Introduction Independent Component Analysis", Murata, Tokyo Denki University), and conventional techniques such as auditory scene analysis. Here, sound around the user 202, footsteps, BGM (Back Ground Music), and the like are created as the environmental sound S100.

  Next, the mask sound creating unit 102 creates the mask sound S101 by amplifying the magnitude of the environmental sound S100 to a magnitude that the secret sound S102 is masked by the ears of the surrounding people 204 (step 201).

  Finally, the output unit 103 outputs the mask sound S101 toward the rear of the user 202 using the speaker 105 installed in the ATM 200 (step 202).

  Next, a description will be given of a method of removing the sound of the surrounding person 204 from the ambient sound S104 using the independent component analysis in the environmental sound creation process (step 200) described above.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of removing the voice of the surrounding person 204 from the ambient sound S104 using independent component analysis. Here, it is assumed that a plurality of microphones 104A for collecting the ambient sound S104 are prepared.

  First, the environmental sound creation unit 101 prepares a speech model using the frequency feature amount of speech (step D100). For example, a probability model such as a mixed Gaussian distribution used for sound identification can be used as a speech model.

  Next, the environmental sound creation unit 101 inputs the ambient sound S104 using the plurality of microphones 104A (step C100). Next, the environmental sound creating unit 101 uses the stochastic independence between the environmental sound S100 and the sound to decompose the ambient sound S104 into a plurality of sounds by independent component analysis (step D101). Next, the environmental sound creation unit 101 compares each decomposed sound with the sound model prepared in step D100, and removes sound having a similarity greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, thereby sound from the ambient sound S104. Is removed (step D102). Here, when the secret sound S102 is a sound, the secret sound S102 is also removed at the same time, so that the sound obtained by removing the sound from the ambient sound S104 becomes the environmental sound S100.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, since the mask sound S101 is created using all sounds including the surrounding sounds and footsteps of the user 202, the user 202 This situation can be determined from the mask sound S101. For this reason, ATM200 can be utilized in peace. In particular, the presence of a suspicious person approaching from behind the user 202 can be determined by the mask sound S101. It can also be seen from the mask sound S101 that there is no sound or footstep, and in such a case, the user 202 can use the ATM 200 with peace of mind. Moreover, the privacy of the surrounding people 204 can be protected by removing the voices of the surrounding people 204 from the mask sound S101.

(Third embodiment)
In the second embodiment, a case where the sound masking device according to the present invention is mounted on a mobile phone will be described as an example. The block diagram showing the overall configuration of the sound masking apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the second embodiment.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing executed by the sound masking apparatus 100. FIG. 10 is an external view of the mobile phone 300. The mobile phone 300 is provided with a microphone 104A for collecting the ambient sound S104 and a removable speaker 105.

  First, the user of the mobile phone 300 switches on the sound masking device 100 so that the voice of the call is not heard by those around.

  When the sound masking device 100 is switched on, the environmental sound creation unit 101 inputs the ambient sound S104 using the microphone 104A installed in the mobile phone 300. Also, the environmental sound creation unit 101 includes, from the ambient sound S104, a secret sound S102 that is a voice between the user and the other party of the call included in the ambient sound S104, a voice of the surrounding person, and a mask sound S101 output by the output unit 103. Is created to create an environmental sound S100 that exists around the user (step 200).

  As a specific method of the environmental sound creation process (step 200), conventional techniques such as an echo canceller, independent component analysis, and auditory scene analysis are used. Here, motorbike sounds around the user, vehicle running sounds, emergency vehicle sirens, footsteps, physical sounds, and the like are created as environmental sounds S100.

  Next, the mask sound creating unit 102 creates the mask sound S101 by amplifying the magnitude of the environmental sound S100 to a magnitude that the secret sound S102 is masked by the ears of the surrounding people (step 201).

  Finally, the output unit 103 outputs the mask sound S101 toward the user using the removable speaker 105 attached to the mobile phone 300 (step 202).

  As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the mask sound S101 is generated using all sounds including the surrounding sounds of the user, footsteps, motorcycle sounds, and car sounds. The user can judge the surrounding situation from the mask sound S101. For this reason, the mobile phone 300 can be used with confidence. In particular, a car or motorcycle approaching the user can be determined by the mask sound S101. Further, by removing the voices of the surrounding people from the mask sound S101, the privacy of the surrounding people can be protected.

  The sound masking device according to the present invention can be used for a wide range of devices such as an in-vehicle privacy protection device, ATM, and mobile phone.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the sound masking apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of a sound masking apparatus. It is an external view of a taxi. It is a figure which shows the inside of the driver's seat of a taxi. It is a figure which shows the flow of the signal in an echo canceller. It is a figure which shows the time transition of an environmental sound, a mask sound, and a secret sound, (a) is a creation time between the mask sound which the mask sound preparation part produced, and the environmental sound which the environmental sound preparation part produced. It is a figure which shows the above-mentioned time transition when there is no delay, (b) takes time to produce a mask sound in a mask sound creation part, and the mask sound and environmental sound creation which were created in the mask sound creation part It is a figure which shows the above-mentioned time transition in case there exists a delay of creation time between the environmental sounds created in the section. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the environmental sound preparation process (step 200) by an environmental sound preparation part. It is a figure which shows a mode that the user is using ATM. It is a flowchart which shows the method of removing the surrounding person's audio | voice from an ambient sound using an independent component analysis. It is a figure which shows the external view of a mobile telephone.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Sound masking apparatus 101 Environmental sound preparation part 102 Mask sound preparation part 103 Output part 104,104A, 104B Microphone 105 Speaker 200 ATM
300 Mobile phone S100 Environmental sound S101 Mask sound S102 Secret sound S104 Ambient sound

Claims (8)

A sound masking device that masks sounds you don't want to hear
By acquiring ambient sounds composed of sounds existing around the user, and removing secret sounds that are sounds that are not desired to be heard by the surrounding people from the ambient sounds, the surrounding situation of the user is indicated. An environmental sound creating means for creating an environmental sound that is a sound;
Mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking the secret sound by amplifying the environmental sound;
The sound masking apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the mask sound to a position where the secret sound exists. The sound masking device according to claim 1, wherein the environmental sound creating unit further creates the environmental sound by removing the mask sound output from the output unit from the ambient sound. The sound masking device according to claim 1, wherein the environmental sound creating unit further creates the environmental sound by removing human voice from the ambient sound. It is an on-vehicle sound masking device that masks audio that you do not want to hear from people around you,
A situation around the driver is obtained by obtaining an ambient sound composed of sounds including sounds outside the vehicle existing around the driver and removing at least one voice of the driver or the passenger from the ambient sound. Environmental sound creating means for creating an environmental sound that is a sound indicating
A mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking the voice of at least one of the driver or the passenger by amplifying the environmental sound;
An on-vehicle sound masking device comprising: output means for outputting the masking sound to a position where at least one of the driver's or the passenger's voice is present. It is a sound masking device for ATM (Automated Teller Machine) that masks audio that you don't want to hear from people around you.
An ambient sound composed of sounds existing around an ATM user is acquired, and voice guidance output from the ATM or the user's voice is removed from the ambient sound, thereby An environmental sound creation means for creating an environmental sound that is a sound indicating the situation;
A mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking at least one of the voice guidance output from the ATM or the voice of the user by amplifying the environmental sound;
An ATM sound masking apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the mask sound at a position where at least one of voice guidance output from the ATM or voice of the user exists. A sound masking device for a mobile phone that masks a call voice of a user of the mobile phone,
An ambient sound that is a sound that indicates a situation around the user by acquiring an ambient sound composed of sounds existing around the user of the mobile phone and removing the call voice of the user from the ambient sound Environmental sound creation means for creating
Mask sound creating means for creating a mask sound for masking the user's call voice by amplifying the environmental sound;
A sound masking device for a mobile phone, comprising: output means for outputting the masking sound to a position where the user's call voice exists. A sound masking method that masks sounds you don't want to hear from people around you,
By acquiring ambient sounds composed of sounds existing around the user, and removing secret sounds that are sounds that are not desired to be heard by the surrounding people from the ambient sounds, the surrounding situation of the user is indicated. An environmental sound creation step for creating an environmental sound that is a sound;
A mask sound creating step for creating a mask sound for masking the secret sound by amplifying the environmental sound; and
An output step of outputting the mask sound to a position where the secret sound exists. A program that masks sounds you don't want people around
By acquiring ambient sounds composed of sounds existing around the user, and removing secret sounds that are sounds that are not desired to be heard by the surrounding people from the ambient sounds, the surrounding situation of the user is indicated. An environmental sound creation step for creating an environmental sound that is a sound;
A mask sound creating step for creating a mask sound for masking the secret sound by amplifying the environmental sound; and
A program for causing a computer to execute an output step of outputting the mask sound to a position where the secret sound exists.

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