JP2012029107A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus such as a mobile phone, for instance, capable of simultaneously providing audio contents such as movies to a plurality of users using different languages.SOLUTION: In an electronic apparatus 100, when sounds uttered by a plurality of users CU are input in a plurality of microphones 121, 122, a sound recognition portion 131 recognizes the sounds uttered by the users CU on the basis of the input results, and a language determination portion 132 individually determines languages used by a plurality of users CU on the basis of the recognized sounds. A directivity control portion 133 outputs audio contents through a parametric speaker 110 in the direction of the users CU corresponding to a plurality of languages thus determined.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a mobile phone, and more particularly to an electronic device including a microphone and a speaker unit.

  In recent years, demand for portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers has been increasing. In such an electronic device, development of a thin portable terminal whose commercial value is an acoustic function such as a videophone, a video playback, and a hands-free phone is being promoted. Under such development, there is an increasing demand for high-quality sound, small size, and thinness for electroacoustic transducers (speaker devices) that are acoustic components.

  Currently, electrodynamic electroacoustic transducers are used as electroacoustic transducers in electronic devices such as mobile phones. This electrodynamic electroacoustic transducer is composed of a permanent magnet, a voice coil, and a diaphragm.

  However, there is a limit to reducing the thickness of electrodynamic electroacoustic transducers due to their operating principles and structures. On the other hand, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe using a piezoelectric element as an electroacoustic transducer.

  Further, as other examples of the oscillation unit using the piezoelectric element, in addition to a speaker device, there are various acoustic wave sensors (Patent Document 3) that detect a distance to an object using a sound wave oscillated from the piezoelectric element. Electronic devices are known.

No. 2007-026736 Table 2007-083497 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-270282

  At present, cellular phones, which are electronic devices, have a variety of functions other than calls, such as a function for viewing music, movies, and the like. Such a mobile phone is used while being placed close to the side of the head during a call, but is used in a state separated from the front of the head when viewing music or movies.

  In addition, globalization is currently progressing in various scenes, and for example, a plurality of foreigners with different languages may view music, movies, and the like together with one mobile phone as described above.

  However, if the language is different in a movie or the like, it is necessary to translate subtitles and the like, and it is actually difficult for a plurality of foreigners to view audio content such as a movie at the same time as described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an electronic device such as a mobile phone that can simultaneously provide sound content such as a movie to a plurality of users having different languages without any problem. To do.

  The electronic device according to the present invention includes a speaker unit capable of controlling the output direction of highly directional sound, a plurality of microphones to which sounds uttered by a plurality of users are input, and a user's input from the input results of the plurality of microphones. Position determination means for determining the utterance position, voice recognition means for recognizing the voice uttered by the user from the input results of the plurality of microphones, and language determination means for individually determining the languages of the plurality of users from the recognized voice And audio control means for outputting audio content with a speaker unit in the direction of the corresponding user in the determined plurality of languages.

  In the electronic device of the present invention, when voices uttered by a plurality of users are input to a plurality of microphones, the voice recognition means recognizes the voices uttered by the users from the input results, and a plurality of voices are recognized from the recognized voices. The language determination means individually determines the user's language. Since the sound control means outputs the sound content in the direction of the corresponding user in the plurality of languages determined in this way by the speaker unit, for example, the sound content such as a movie can be safely transmitted to the plurality of users having different languages. It can be provided at the same time.

It is a typical block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the mobile telephone which is an electronic device of embodiment of this invention. It is a typical front view which shows the external appearance of a mobile telephone. It is a vertical side view which shows the structure of the principal part of the speaker unit which is an oscillation unit. It is a typical front view which shows the structure of a speaker unit. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of a mobile telephone. It is a typical front view which shows the structure of the speaker unit of one modification.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment receives parametric speaker 110, which is a speaker unit capable of controlling the output direction of highly directional audio, and audio uttered by a plurality of users CU. A plurality of microphones 121 and 122, position determination means for determining a user's utterance position from input results of the plurality of microphones, a voice recognition unit 131 that recognizes a voice uttered by the user CU, and a recognized voice The language determination unit 132 that individually determines the languages of a plurality of user CUs, and directivity that is voice control means for outputting audio content in the direction of the corresponding user CU in the determined plurality of languages with the parametric speaker 110 And a control unit 133.

  Furthermore, in electronic device 100 of the present embodiment, directivity control unit 133 drives parametric speaker 110 in a time-sharing manner and outputs audio contents in a plurality of languages in the direction of a plurality of users CU substantially simultaneously.

  More specifically, the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment is composed of, for example, a mobile phone. As shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 102 is provided in the upper half of the front surface of the vertically long main body housing 101, and the lower half is provided. A keyboard unit 103 is arranged.

  Further, two microphones 121 and 122 are arranged one by one on the left and right sides of the lower end. A general electrodynamic speaker 140 for calling is disposed at the center of the upper end, and a parametric speaker 110 used for viewing movies or music is disposed on the side of the speaker.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the microphones 121 and 122 are connected to a speech recognition unit 131 via amplification circuits 123 and 124, and the speech recognition unit 131 is connected to a language determination unit 132. The language determination unit 132 is connected to the directivity control unit 133, and the directivity control unit 133 is connected to the parametric speaker 110.

  The microphones 121 and 122 are also connected to a call transmission circuit that wirelessly transmits the input call voice. The electrodynamic speaker 140 is connected to a call reception circuit that wirelessly receives the call voice and outputs the voice. (Not shown).

  The speech recognition unit 131, the language determination unit 132, and the directivity control unit 133 include an LSI (Large Scale Integration) such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the parametric speaker 110 includes a piezoelectric vibrator 113 in which a piezoelectric element 111 is supported by an elastic member 112, and the elastic member 112 is supported by a highly rigid frame 114.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the parametric speaker 110 has a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 113 as described above arranged in a matrix. The parametric speaker 110 outputs highly directional sound in a desired direction by individually controlling the drive of the piezoelectric vibrators 113 arranged in a matrix.

The piezoelectric element 111 is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having a piezoelectric effect. However, a material having high electromechanical conversion efficiency, for example, lead zirco-titanate (PZT) is used. Alternatively, a material such as barium titanate (BaTiO ₃ ) can be used.

  The thickness of the piezoelectric element 111 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 μm or more and 500 μm or less. For example, when a thin film having a thickness of less than 10 μm is used as a ceramic material that is a brittle material, chipping or breakage occurs due to weak mechanical strength during handling, making handling difficult.

  Further, when a ceramic having a thickness of more than 500 μm is used, the conversion efficiency for converting electric energy into mechanical energy is remarkably lowered, and sufficient performance as the parametric speaker 110 cannot be obtained.

  In general, in a piezoelectric ceramic that generates an electrostrictive effect by inputting an electric signal, the conversion efficiency depends on the electric field strength. Since the electric field strength is expressed by the thickness / input voltage with respect to the polarization direction, an increase in thickness inevitably causes a decrease in conversion efficiency.

  In the piezoelectric element 111 of the present invention, upper / lower electrode layers (not shown) are formed on the main surface in order to generate an electric field. The upper / lower electrode layer is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having electrical conductivity, but it is preferable to use silver or silver / palladium. Silver is used as a general-purpose electrode layer with low resistance, and has advantages in manufacturing process and cost.

  Further, since silver / palladium is a low-resistance material excellent in oxidation resistance, there is an advantage from the viewpoint of reliability. The thickness of the upper / lower electrode layer is not particularly limited, but the thickness is preferably 1 μm or more and 50 μm or less.

  For example, when the thickness is less than 1 μm, since the film thickness is thin, it cannot be uniformly formed, and conversion efficiency may be reduced. As a technique for forming a thin film upper / lower electrode layer, there is a method of applying it in a paste form.

  However, when the piezoelectric element 111 is a polycrystal such as ceramic, the surface state is textured, so that the wet state at the time of application is poor, and there is a problem that a uniform electrode film cannot be formed without a certain thickness.

  On the other hand, when the film thickness of the upper / lower electrode layer exceeds 100 μm, there is no particular problem in manufacturing, but the upper / lower electrode layer becomes a constraining surface for the piezoelectric ceramic material which is the piezoelectric element 111, and energy conversion efficiency There is a problem of lowering.

  The piezoelectric element 111 of the parametric speaker 110 according to the present embodiment has a principal surface on one side constrained by an elastic member 112. The elastic member 112 has a function of adjusting the basic resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 111. The basic resonance frequency f of the mechanical piezoelectric vibrator 113 depends on the load weight and compliance, as shown by the following equation.

[Equation 1]
f = 1 / (2πL√ (mC))
“M” is mass and “C” is compliance.

  In other words, since the compliance is the mechanical rigidity of the piezoelectric vibrator 113, this means that the fundamental resonance frequency can be controlled by controlling the rigidity of the piezoelectric element 111.

  For example, it is possible to shift the fundamental resonance frequency to a low range by selecting a material having a high elastic modulus or reducing the thickness of the elastic member 112. On the other hand, the fundamental resonance frequency can be shifted to a high range by selecting a material having a high elastic modulus or increasing the thickness of the elastic member 112.

  Conventionally, since the basic resonance frequency is controlled by the shape and material of the piezoelectric element 111, there are problems in design restrictions, cost, and reliability. However, as in the present invention, the elastic member 112, which is a constituent member. Since it can be easily adjusted to a desired fundamental resonance frequency by changing the above, the industrial value is great.

  The elastic member 112 is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having a high elastic modulus with respect to a ceramic that is a brittle material such as metal or resin, but general-purpose materials such as phosphor bronze and stainless steel are used from the viewpoint of workability and cost. used.

  The thickness of the elastic member 112 is preferably 5 μm or more and 1000 μm or less. When the thickness is less than 5 μm, the mechanical strength is weak, the function as a restraining member is impaired, and the processing accuracy is lowered, so that an error in the mechanical vibration characteristics of the piezoelectric element 111 occurs between manufacturing lots.

  In addition, when the thickness exceeds 1000 μm, there is a problem in that the restraint on the piezoelectric element 111 due to the increase in rigidity is strengthened and the vibration displacement amount is attenuated. In addition, the elastic member 112 of the present embodiment preferably has a longitudinal elastic modulus, which is an index indicating the rigidity of the material, of 1 GPa or more and 500 GPa or less. As described above, when the rigidity of the elastic member 112 is excessively low or excessively high, there is a problem that characteristics and reliability are impaired as a mechanical vibrator.

  Hereinafter, the operation principle of the parametric speaker 110 of the present embodiment will be described. The parametric speaker 110 according to the present embodiment radiates ultrasonic waves subjected to AM (Amplitude Modulation) modulation, DSB (Double Sideband modulation) modulation, SSB (Single-Sideband modulation) modulation, and FM (Frequency Modulation) modulation into the air. However, sound reproduction is performed on the principle that audible sound appears due to nonlinear characteristics when ultrasonic waves propagate in the air.

  Non-linearity includes a phenomenon in which the flow changes from laminar flow to turbulent flow when the Reynolds number indicated by the ratio between the inertial action and viscous action of the flow increases. That is, since the sound wave is slightly disturbed in the fluid, the sound wave propagates nonlinearly.

  However, the amplitude of the sound wave in the low frequency band is nonlinear, but the amplitude difference is very small, and is usually handled as a phenomenon of linear theory. On the other hand, nonlinearity can be easily observed with ultrasonic waves, and when radiated into the air, harmonics accompanying the nonlinearity are remarkably generated.

  In summary, sound waves are a dense state where molecular groups are mixed in the air, and if it takes time for the air molecules to recover rather than compress, the air that cannot be recovered after compression is continuously propagated air. This is the principle that an audible sound is generated by colliding with a molecule and generating a shock wave.

  In the configuration as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment is disposed close to the side of the head during normal calls (step S <b> 1 -Y), and has two lower ends. The utterance of the user CU is input through the microphones 121 and 122, and the utterance of the other user (not shown) is output from the electrodynamic speaker 140 at the upper end (step S10).

  However, electronic device 100 of the present embodiment is used not only for the general usage method as described above, but also for movie viewing, for example, in a parametric mode using parametric speaker 110 (step S2-Y). The

  In such a case, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic device 100 is disposed at a predetermined distance in front of the heads of a plurality of users CUs. In such a state, for example, when a plurality of users CU utter the start of movie viewing in their respective languages, this utterance is input to the two microphones 121 and 122 (step S3-Y).

  Then, the voice recognition unit 131 individually recognizes the plurality of input languages (step S4), and the recognized language is determined by the language determination unit 132 (step S5). This language recognition and determination is executed by matching with a plurality of keywords prepared in advance, for example.

  Further, as described above, when a plurality of languages are simultaneously input to the microphones 121 and 122, the languages are separated into a plurality based on the directions. Next, for example, when the audio content is a movie, a plurality of languages prepared in advance is acquired by the language determination unit 132 (step S6).

  Next, the directivity control unit 133 individually detects the directions of the utterance positions of the plurality of user CUs from the time difference between the input voices as described above (step S7). Therefore, highly directional sound is output from the parametric speaker 110 in each of the detected directions in each language (step S8).

  For this reason, for example, the voice is output in English at the position of the user CU who spoke English, the voice is output in Chinese at the position of the user CU who spoke Chinese, and the user who spoke Japanese Audio is output in Japanese at the CU position.

  Accordingly, a plurality of users CUs with different languages can simultaneously enjoy audio contents such as movies. Moreover, since the sound output from the parametric speaker 110 is highly directional as described above, a plurality of users CU can view only the sound of their own language without mixing a plurality of languages.

  Moreover, in the electronic device 100 of the present embodiment, the utterance of the user CU is continuously detected in real time. For this reason, even when the number of user CUs having different languages increases during viewing of the movie as described above, sound is provided in a language corresponding to the user CU.

  Furthermore, as described above, electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment continuously detects the voice of user CU in real time, and adjusts the output direction of highly directional audio from parametric speaker 110 in real time. For this reason, even if the position of the user CU fluctuates during simultaneous translation or the like, if the user CU utters, highly directional speech can be accurately provided.

  Further, in electronic device 100 of the present embodiment, two microphones 121 and 122 are arranged at positions separated from each other in the left and right directions. For this reason, the utterance position of the user CU can be detected well in the left-right direction.

  Furthermore, in the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment, since the two microphones 121 and 122 are arranged at positions separated from each other as described above, even in the case of using with holding with the right hand during a normal call. Even in the case of using with holding with the left hand, the utterance of the user CU can be input well.

  The present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and various modifications are allowed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, two microphones 121 and 122 are arranged at positions separated from each other in the left and right, and the high directivity sound of the parametric speaker 110 is controlled in the left and right directions.

  However, three or more microphones are spaced apart from each other on a mobile phone (not shown), and the direction of the highly directional sound of the parametric speaker 110 is detected by detecting the utterance position of the user CU three-dimensionally. You may control.

  In that case, since the detection accuracy of the utterance position improves as the three or more microphones are separated from each other, for example, it is preferable to arrange the microphones at the four corners on the top, bottom, left, and right of the front surface of the mobile phone (not shown). .

  Further, in such a cellular phone or the like, the parametric speaker 110 is arranged in the approximate center between the plurality of microphones, and the directivity control unit 133 detects at least the direction of the utterance position from the detection results of the plurality of microphones. It may be done (not shown).

  For example, if microphones are arranged at the top, bottom, left and right corners of the front surface of the mobile phone as described above, and the parametric speaker 110 is disposed at the center of the front surface of the mobile phone, high directivity with high accuracy can be achieved at the utterance position detected with high accuracy. Can be output accurately (not shown).

  In the above embodiment, the parametric speaker 110 and the microphones 121 and 122 are illustrated as being formed separately. However, a part of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 113 arranged in a matrix may be replaced with the microphone 210 as in the speaker unit 200 which is an oscillation unit illustrated in FIG.

  In this case, the directivity control unit 133 detects the utterance position of the user CU using the microphone 210 of the speaker unit 200. Even in such a speaker unit 200, in order to improve the detection accuracy of the utterance position, a part of the outer edge portion of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 113 arranged in a matrix is replaced with the microphones 121 and 122. Is preferred.

  More specifically, as shown in the figure, microphones 210 are arranged at the four corners of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 113 arranged in a matrix of the speaker unit 200, and the directivity control unit 133 is arranged at the four corners 210. It is preferable to detect the utterance position three-dimensionally from the detection result.

  In this case, since the interval between the plurality of microphones 210 is shortened as compared with the electronic device 100 described above, there is a concern that the detection accuracy of the utterance position is lowered. However, since the microphone 210 is built into the speaker unit 200 from the beginning, the detection accuracy of the utterance position can be tuned with high accuracy in advance. Moreover, although there are many foldable electronic devices 100, the above-described speaker unit 200 is not affected by the structure of the electronic device 100.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as a speaker unit capable of controlling the output direction of highly directional sound, a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 113 each having a plurality of piezoelectric elements 111 individually supported by a plurality of elastic members 112 are arranged in a matrix. The parametric speaker 110 is illustrated.

  However, it is also possible to implement a speaker unit (not shown) in which one piezoelectric vibrator 113 is supported so as to be swingable in two axial directions such as up, down, left and right, and moved in each direction by a solenoid.

  Moreover, in the said form, it illustrated that the audio content which the electronic device 100 outputs simultaneously to several user CU consists of the sound of the movie prepared beforehand. However, the audio content output from the parametric speaker 110 as described above may be composed of audio uttered by the user CU. In this case, the electronic device 100 can provide a plurality of user CUs with simultaneous language translation.

  Further, electronic device 100 may control the frequency characteristics of the output sound of parametric speaker 110 from the input results of microphones 121 and 122. In this case, voice can be output with frequency characteristics appropriate for a plurality of languages. For example, since it becomes difficult to hear high frequencies when the elderly person is generally aged, the output sound is shifted to a low frequency and the volume is increased.

  Such an increase in volume can also be realized by changing the frequency characteristics. As described above, since the frequency characteristics that are easy to hear differ depending on the age of the user CU, the frequency characteristics may be changed depending on the age of the user CU.

  Further, the electronic device 100 may control the output speed of the output sound of the parametric speaker 110. In this case, the sound can be output at an appropriate speed for each of a plurality of languages depending on the playback speed of the audio content.

  Needless to say, the above-described plurality of embodiments and the plurality of modifications can be combined within a range in which the contents do not conflict with each other. In the above-described embodiment, the structure of each part has been specifically described. However, the structure and the like can be variously changed within a range that satisfies the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Electronic device 101 Main body housing 102 Display unit 103 Keyboard unit 110 Parametric speaker 111 Piezoelectric element 112 Elastic member 113 Piezoelectric vibrator 114 Frame 121,122 Microphone 123,124 Amplifier circuit 131 Speech recognition part 132 Language determination part 133 Directionality control part 140 Electrodynamic speaker 200 Speaker unit 210 Microphone CU User

Claims (10)

A speaker unit that can control the output direction of highly directional audio;
A plurality of microphones to which voices uttered by a plurality of users are input;
A position determination means for determining a plurality of user utterance positions from input results of the plurality of microphones;
Voice recognition means for recognizing voice uttered by the user from input results of the plurality of microphones;
Language determination means for individually determining the languages of the plurality of users from the recognized speech;
Audio control means for outputting audio content by the speaker unit in the direction of the user corresponding to each of the determined languages;
Electronic equipment having   2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the sound control unit outputs the sound uttered by the plurality of users as sound content in the direction of the user corresponding to each of the plurality of languages by the speaker unit.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the sound control unit determines a predetermined condition from an input result of the microphone, and controls a frequency characteristic of output sound of the speaker unit corresponding to the determined predetermined condition.   The sound control means determines a predetermined condition from an input result of the microphone, and controls the output speed of the output sound of the speaker unit in accordance with the determined predetermined condition. The electronic device described.   5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the audio control unit drives the speaker unit in a time-sharing manner and outputs the audio contents in a plurality of languages in the directions of the plurality of users substantially simultaneously. 6. .   6. The electron according to claim 1, wherein the speaker unit includes a parametric speaker in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators each supporting a plurality of piezoelectric elements with a plurality of elastic members are arranged in a matrix. machine. In the speaker unit, a plurality of the piezoelectric vibrators are arranged in a matrix with a plurality of microphones,
The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the voice control unit detects the utterance position of the user by the microphone of the speaker unit.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the speaker unit includes the microphone arranged at a part of an outer edge portion of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators arranged in a matrix.   The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein the speaker unit has the microphones arranged at at least two corners of the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators arranged in a matrix. The speaker unit is disposed between the plurality of microphones,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the voice control unit detects at least a direction of the utterance position from detection results of the plurality of microphones.

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