JP2013037120A - Voice processing unit and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To raise presence feeling by appropriately controlling, in appreciation of voice in various scenes, the balance between voice in scenes and sound emitted by an air conditioner.SOLUTION: A voice processing unit for outputting voice includes input means for inputting a voice signal indicating voice to be output, creation means for analyzing the voice signal and creating a masking curve, transmission means for transmitting a control signal to an external air conditioner so as to mask air-conditioning sound of an air conditioner on the basis of the masking curve, and voice output means for outputting the voice to be output.

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio processing apparatus and method for analyzing an audio signal and controlling environmental information such as air conditioning and lighting in conjunction with the audio.

In recent years, with the widespread use of large displays and surround systems, high-quality video and audio can be reproduced even at home. For example, as a method for enhancing the sense of presence and immersion, there are a method of controlling the size of a screen, surround sound, air conditioning and lighting.
Conventionally, as a method of controlling an air conditioner in conjunction with a video device, a method of switching between cooling and heating of an air conditioner depending on whether the hue of the video display device is a warm color system or a cold color system, as in Patent Document 1, is known. Further, as an air conditioning control method for controlling air conditioning in conjunction with an acoustic device, there is known a method in which a temperature fluctuation pattern is changed in synchronization with frequency information of an audio signal, as in Patent Document 2. Further, as in Patent Document 3, a technique for generating a masking function using a digital filter in digital audio processing is also known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-87375 JP-A-5-157317 JP-A-10-107642

  Conventionally, air conditioning is controlled according to a video signal or an audio signal, but it has not been taken into account that the reproduced audio signal is affected by the air conditioning sound. For example, when appreciating a quiet scene, there is a problem that the air-conditioning sound impairs the realism and immersion of the scene. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and it is a main object to enhance the sense of reality by appropriately controlling the balance between the sound of the scene and the sound emitted by the air conditioner in appreciating the sound of various scenes. And

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the sound processing device of the present invention, an input means for inputting a sound signal representing a sound to be output, a creation means for analyzing the sound signal and creating a masking curve, An audio processing comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits a control signal to an external air conditioner so as to mask an air conditioning sound of the air conditioner based on a masking curve; and an audio output unit that outputs the output target audio. apparatus.

  According to the present invention, in appreciating the sound of various scenes, it is possible to enhance the sense of realism by appropriately controlling the balance between the sound of the scene and the sound generated by the air conditioner.

Block diagram showing system configuration Flowchart for processing video playback and environmental control synchronously from video input Flow chart showing processing for creating air conditioning control information from audio of input video The figure which showed the volume of the image, the volume change, and the air conditioning control information Flow chart showing processing for creating air conditioning control information Table for creating air conditioning control information and lighting control information Flow chart showing processing for creating air conditioning control information Diagram showing frequency distribution of air conditioning sound, frequency distribution of audio of video, and air conditioning control information

<Example 1>
Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a speech processing apparatus or speech processing system that implements the present embodiment. The CPU 101 controls the operation of the entire system and executes a program stored in the primary storage 102. The primary storage 102 is mainly a memory, and reads and stores programs stored in the secondary storage 103. The secondary storage 103 is a storage device such as a hard disk. Generally, the capacity of the primary storage is smaller than the capacity of the secondary storage, and programs and data that cannot be stored in the primary storage are stored in the secondary storage. Data that must be stored for a long time is also stored in the secondary storage. In this embodiment, program codes for controlling various processes described in this embodiment are stored in the secondary storage 103. Then, the program code is read into the primary storage 102 when various processes are executed, and the CPU 101 executes the processes using the program code. The input device 104 is an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a microphone. The input device 104 can also send an interrupt signal to the process being executed based on the program code. The output device 105 is various output devices including a speaker. This speaker is a typical example of outputting sound of a scene that a user wants to appreciate. For example, the output device 105 includes a display that outputs video. The voice processing device applied to this embodiment operates in conjunction with an external air conditioner. For example, the sound processing device analyzes input sound (a sound that is a user's appreciation target and a reproduction output target) and creates a masking curve described later, and then transmits control information to an external air conditioner. In response to this, the air conditioner can control the air conditioning. It is assumed that the external air conditioner is an air conditioner installed in a room where a user appreciates a scene composed of the video and audio. However, the position of the air conditioner is not limited to this, and any air conditioner that is installed at a position that affects the viewing environment may be included.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an air conditioning control operation process executed by the voice processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The process proceeds to step S201 by turning on the power of the sound processing apparatus or setting the air conditioning control mode. Step S201 implicitly includes processing for determining whether there is an audio signal to be processed next. When there is an audio signal to be processed, the process proceeds to the next step S202. In step S202, an audio signal to be processed is input. This audio signal is an audio signal that accompanies the above-described video scene and the like, and expresses audio having contents suitable for various scenes. Next, the voice input in step S203 is analyzed to create air conditioning control information. In step S204, the air conditioner is controlled based on the air conditioning control information. Specifically, a control signal corresponding to air conditioning control information is sent to the air conditioner. In step S204, the audio of the video scene is output (reproduced) from the apparatus via a speaker. Then, it progresses to step S205 and returns to step S201.

  Hereinafter, the voice analysis in step S203 and the air conditioning control information creation method will be described with reference to FIG.

  If there is a voice to be analyzed in step S301, the process proceeds to the next step S302. In step S302, the input voice is analyzed. FIG. 4A is an example showing the result of speech analysis. This figure is represented by three axes. The horizontal axis of Fig.4 (a) represents a frequency. Moreover, the vertical axis | shaft of Fig.4 (a) represents a sound pressure level. The axis from the back to the front represents time.

  In step S303, a voice masking function is created. Here, a masking curve generation method using a commonly used digital filter is used. Specifically, the frequency masking function of time (t) is shown in FIG. The horizontal axis of FIG.4 (b) represents a frequency. The vertical axis in FIG. 4B represents the sound pressure. Here, the frequency masking effect means “if there is a sound that is a little lower than that at a certain height, it will be difficult to hear a high sound due to the sound that is slightly lower”. FIG. 4C shows a time masking function of the frequency (t). The horizontal axis in FIG. 4B is the frequency, and the vertical axis in FIG. 4B is the sound pressure. The time masking effect means that “a sound immediately after a loud sound cannot be heard for about 0.1 seconds even if the sound disappears”. The horizontal axis of FIG.4 (c) represents a frequency. The vertical axis in FIG. 4C represents the sound pressure. By creating FIGS. 4B and 4C in the time direction and the frequency axis, a masking function as shown in FIG. 4D can be created. The horizontal axis of FIG.4 (d) represents a frequency. The vertical axis in FIG. 4D represents the sound pressure level. The axis from the back to the front in FIG. 4D represents time.

  Next, in step S304, air conditioning control information is created from the masking function. A method for creating the air conditioning control information will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, processing is started in step S501. Next, in step S502, the initial value of the air conditioning intensity Value is set to “OFF”. Next, time t is initialized at step S503. Next, in step S504, the masking function and the frequency of the air conditioning noise are compared. As a comparison method, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the entire frequency of sound at a certain time is compared with the entire frequency of air conditioning. Next, in step S505, a value corresponding to the comparison result is determined. The determination method of Value is determined according to the table of FIG. 6B from the entire comparison result in step S504.

  Next, time t is advanced by 1 in step S507. Next, in step S508, it is determined whether the processing necessary for reproduction has been completed. If the processing is completed, the process returns to step S509, and if not, the process returns to step S504. Finally, the process ends in step S509.

  Thus, the air conditioning change (t) (see FIG. 6C) during the reproduction time is determined, and in step S204 described above, the air conditioning apparatus (air conditioning sound) is synchronized with the sound corresponding to the scene reproduced by the sound processing apparatus. Can be changed. In order to change the air conditioning sound in synchronization with the voice, a control signal is transmitted from the voice processing device to the air conditioning device or a remote control device of the air conditioning device. When a control signal is sent to the remote control device, the control signal is further sent to the air conditioner by replacing the control signal with a necessary control signal. As described above, the air-conditioning sound can be controlled in accordance with the sound corresponding to the scene being reproduced.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the audio processing apparatus performs audio reproduction after completing the audio analysis. However, if the audio analysis can be performed at a high speed and if it takes less time to transmit and receive control signals between the apparatuses, the audio processing apparatus Sound analysis may be performed while playing back. In the present embodiment, a predetermined value such as an air conditioning noise frequency is assumed, but the user may set an appropriate numerical value. In this embodiment, air conditioning control by an external environment such as room temperature or outdoor temperature is not mentioned, but air conditioning may be controlled according to the external environment with FIG. 6C as an upper limit line.

<Example 2>
In the first embodiment, if the air conditioning sound is loud or the scene sound is low, the air conditioning may not be driven. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the sound level of the scene is changed according to the air conditioning.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a control process for linking the reproduced sound and the air-conditioning sound in the second embodiment. First, processing is started in step S701. In step S702, the audio corresponding to the input scene is analyzed. In step S703, a masking function is created. The processing so far is the same as in the first embodiment. In step S704, it is determined whether air conditioning control information has been created from the masking function. Specifically, it is only necessary to drive the air conditioner, and the process proceeds to step S706. Here, if the input sound level is too low and the air conditioning cannot be driven (see FIG. 8A), the process proceeds to step S705. Next, in step S705, the sound pressure level of the audio of the video is increased by 1.5 times, and the process proceeds to step S702. Here, the time of the sound pressure level to be raised is the time determined to be larger than the threshold in the masking function. In this way, by performing the same processing by increasing the sound pressure level, it becomes possible to recreate the masking function and perform air conditioning control. Note that the masking function may be re-created by increasing the sound pressure level only in the vicinity of a frequency of 1 KHz close to human speech among the input speech by 1.5 times. (See FIG. 8C) The method for controlling the air conditioning and the method for reproducing the sound are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. As described above, even when the sound level is low and the air conditioning cannot be controlled, the air conditioning can be appropriately controlled by raising the sound level of the video. Although the sound pressure level for the time longer than the threshold is increased this time, the sound pressure level for the entire video may be increased, and the method for increasing the sound pressure level may be arbitrarily adjusted.

<Modification>
Although the example which controls an air conditioner was demonstrated in the above Example, it will be applicable also to household equipment (a ventilation fan, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a washing machine, etc.) used as another similar sound source like air conditioning.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the process of executing a program (computer program) for realizing each process and function by the CPU in the apparatus has been described. However, the computer program and a computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program are also included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (4)

An audio processing device that outputs audio,
Input means for inputting an audio signal representing the audio to be output;
Creating means for analyzing the audio signal and creating a masking curve;
Transmitting means for transmitting a control signal to an external air conditioner so as to mask the air conditioning sound of the air conditioner based on the masking curve;
A voice processing apparatus comprising voice output means for outputting the voice to be output.   A computer program that causes a computer to function as the sound processing apparatus according to claim 1 by being read and executed by a computer.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 2. A method of controlling a speech processing apparatus that outputs speech,
A step of inputting a sound signal representing a sound to be output by an input means;
Analyzing the audio signal by creating means to create a masking curve;
A step of transmitting a control signal to an external air conditioner so as to mask the air conditioning sound of the air conditioner based on the masking curve by a transmission means;
And a step of outputting the output target voice by voice output means.

Images