JP2020106779A - Acoustic device and sound field control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To specify the orientation of a sound source in a cabin, and reproduce the sound field in such a manner that sound is actually produced from the orientation.SOLUTION: An acoustic device according to an embodiment includes a microphone, a plurality of first speakers, a second speaker, a voice acquisition unit, and an output control unit. The plurality of first speakers are provided at height positions that are visible in a state where a passenger in the cabin faces the front. The second speaker is provided below the first speakers. The voice acquisition unit acquires voice produced by a sound source and collected by the microphone. The output control unit outputs the voice acquired by the voice acquisition unit through a first speaker in the vicinity of the sound source in reverse phase, and outputs the voice acquired by the voice acquisition unit through the remaining first speakers and the second speaker.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The disclosed embodiments relate to an acoustic device and a sound field control method.

Conventionally, an in-car conversation support device called ICC (In-Car-Communication) is known (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). Such a device clarifies conversations between passengers of a vehicle, which tend to be difficult to hear due to road noise, etc., by collecting the voices of the speakers with a microphone placed inside the vehicle and outputting them from the in-vehicle speaker. Is what you are trying to do.

JP, 2017-193207, A

However, the above-described conventional technique has room for further improvement in identifying the direction of the speaker in the passenger compartment and reproducing the sound field as if actually speaking from that direction.

Specifically, when the voice collected by the microphone in the vehicle compartment is output by the vehicle-mounted speaker, the voice is output from the vehicle-mounted speaker placed near the door, for example, regardless of the position of the speaker. Moreover, in the passenger compartment, the real voice of the speaker mixes with the sound output from the in-vehicle speaker, so it is difficult to identify the direction of the speaker. Also, because of this, an unnatural conversation is likely to occur.

It should be noted that such a problem is not limited to the case of the ICC, and is a problem common to all cases in which the direction of the sound source is specified in the passenger compartment and the sound field is reproduced as if a sound is actually generated from the direction.

One aspect of the embodiment is made in view of the above, and in a vehicle interior, an azimuth of a sound source can be specified, and a sound field can be reproduced from the azimuth so that a sound field is actually reproduced. An object is to provide a device and a sound field control method.

An audio device according to an aspect of the embodiment includes a microphone, a plurality of first speakers, a second speaker, a sound acquisition unit, and an output control unit. The plurality of first speakers are provided at a height position where a passenger in the vehicle compartment can visually recognize the passengers while facing forward. The second speaker is provided below the first speaker. The voice acquisition unit acquires a voice generated by a sound source and collected by the microphone. The output control unit outputs the sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit in anti-phase from the first speaker near the sound source, and outputs the sound from the remaining first speaker and the second speaker. The sound acquired by the acquisition unit is output.

According to one aspect of the embodiment, it is possible to identify the direction of the sound source in the passenger compartment and reproduce the sound field as if the sound is actually generated from the direction.

FIG. 1A is a schematic explanatory diagram (1) of a sound field control method according to a comparative example. FIG. 1B is a schematic explanatory view (No. 2) of the sound field control method according to the comparative example. FIG. 1C is a schematic explanatory diagram (part 1) of the sound field control method according to the embodiment. FIG. 1D is a schematic explanatory diagram (part 2) of the sound field control method according to the embodiment. FIG. 1E is a schematic explanatory view (No. 3) of the sound field control method according to the embodiment. FIG. 1F is a schematic explanatory view (No. 4) of the sound field control method according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the acoustic system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the audio device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an acoustic system according to another embodiment. FIG. 5A is a diagram (No. 1) showing a specific example of a reproduction scene of a sound direction by an acoustic system according to another embodiment. FIG. 5B is a diagram (No. 2) showing a specific example of the reproduction scene of the direction of the sound by the acoustic system according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an acoustic device and a sound field control method disclosed in the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

Further, in the following description, it is assumed that the vehicle V is, for example, a minivan or the like, and has three rows and six seats in the passenger compartment. Needless to say, the number of sheets is not limited.

First, the outline of the sound field control method according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1F. 1A and 1B are schematic explanatory views (No. 1) and (No. 2) of a sound field control method according to a comparative example. 1C to 1F are schematic explanatory diagrams (No. 1) to (No. 4) of the sound field control method according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1A, for example, an acoustic system 1′ to which a sound field control method according to a comparative example is applied includes an acoustic device 10′, microphones 3-F and 3-R, and in-vehicle speakers 42-FR and 42-FL. , 42-RR and 42-RL.

The audio device 10' is a device that outputs the sound collected by the microphones 3-F and 3-R from the vehicle-mounted speakers 42-FR, 42-FL, 42-RR, and 42-RL. For example, the microphone 3-F is provided at a front position inside the vehicle compartment, and the microphone 3-R is provided at a rear position inside the vehicle compartment. Hereinafter, the microphones 3-F and 3-R may be collectively referred to as "microphone 3".

The in-vehicle speakers 42-FR, 42-FL, 42-RR, 42-RL are provided near the door, for example. Hereinafter, the vehicle-mounted speakers 42-FR, 42-FL, 42-RR, 42-RL may be collectively referred to as the "vehicle-mounted speaker 42". Note that, as shown in FIG. 1B, the in-vehicle speaker 42 is often arranged at the feet of the passenger.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1A, the driver D is seated on the driver's seat, the passenger P1 is seated on the right side of the third-row seat, and the passenger P2 is seated on the left side of the seat. It is assumed that the utterance has started.

Then, the voice uttered by the passenger P2 is collected by the microphone 3-R and is output from the in-vehicle speaker 42 all at once. Then, first, as shown in FIG. 1B, the in-vehicle speaker 42 is often placed at the feet of the passenger, which causes a problem that it is difficult to hear. In addition, since it is arranged at a position below the inside of the vehicle compartment such as the feet, there is a problem that localization of sound in the vertical direction becomes poor.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1A, in addition to the sound output from the in-vehicle speaker 42, there is a problem that the real voice of the passenger P2 overlaps. Due to these problems, according to the sound field control method according to the comparative example, the driver D cannot specify the direction of the speaker, for example, as shown in “where?” in the figure. For example, the driver D has difficulty distinguishing whether the speaker is the fellow passenger P1 or the fellow passenger P2.

Therefore, in the sound system 1 to which the sound field control method according to the embodiment is applied, as shown in FIG. 1C, first, the display speakers 41-C, 41-RR, 41-RL are provided in the vehicle compartment. Hereinafter, the display speakers 41-C, 41-RR, 41-RL may be collectively referred to as the "display speaker 41".

The display speaker 41-C is provided in the center of the dashboard as a CID (Center Information Display) equipped with a panel speaker, for example. The display speakers 41-RR and 41-RL are provided, for example, as RSE (Rear Seat Entertainment) equipped with a panel speaker on the back surface of each second row seat.

Because of the characteristic that the display speaker 41 has a display function, as shown in FIG. 1D, for example, in a state where the driver D and the passengers P1 and P2 face forward, the output position can be visually recognized. It is provided in.

That is, since the display speaker 41 is obviously higher in height than the vehicle-mounted speaker 42, and the driver D and the passengers P1 and P2 are also closer to each other, it is possible to solve the problem of difficulty in hearing. ..

In addition, as shown in the same figure, the sound is stereoscopically sensed not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction by outputting the sound from the display speaker 41 and the in-vehicle speaker 42, which have different heights at the mounting positions. Can be obtained, and the problem of poor localization of sounds in the vertical direction can be solved.

Further, in the sound field control method according to the embodiment, the real voice RV of the speaker is further canceled. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1E, when the speaker is the fellow passenger P2, in the acoustic system 1, the display speaker 41-RL in front of the fellow passenger P2 reads “the real voice RV of the fellow passenger P2. Output audio in opposite phase".

As a result, the real voice RV of the fellow passenger P2 can be "canceled", and the problem that the real voice of the fellow passenger P2 overlaps with the voice output from the in-vehicle speaker 42 can be alleviated.

By the sound field control method as described above, as shown in FIG. 1F, the voice collected by the microphone 3-R is output from the display speaker 41 and the in-vehicle speaker 42, so that the voice of the speaker (passenger P2) is changed. Although it is a sound that can be heard through the microphone 3, the listener (driver D) is made to feel as if he or she were listening to the voice RV of the speaker from the direction in which the speaker is present, because of the stereoscopic sound localization. (See arrow 101 in the figure).

Therefore, according to the sound field control method according to the embodiment, it is possible to specify the direction of the sound source in the passenger compartment and reproduce the sound field as if the sound is actually generated from the direction. Hereinafter, a configuration example of the acoustic system 1 to which the sound field control method according to the embodiment is applied will be described more specifically.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the acoustic system 1 according to the embodiment. It should be noted that FIG. 2 shows only the components necessary for explaining the features of the embodiment, and omits the description of general components.

In other words, each component shown in FIG. 2 is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown. For example, the specific form of distribution/integration of each block is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or part of the blocks may be functionally or physically distributed/arranged in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. It can be integrated and configured.

In addition, in the description using FIG. 2, the description of the already described constituent elements may be simplified or omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the acoustic system 1 according to the embodiment includes an operation unit 2, a microphone 3, and a speaker unit 4. The speaker unit 4 includes the display speaker 41 and the vehicle-mounted speaker 42 described above. The operation unit 2 is a touch panel of the display speaker 41, a touch pad (not shown), or the like.

The audio device 10 includes a storage unit 12 and a control unit 13. The storage unit 12 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory (Flash Memory), or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. In the example of FIG. 2, the map information 12a is stored. To do.

The map information 12a is information relating to the arrangement position of the display speaker 41 in the passenger compartment, and is used, for example, for selecting the display speaker 41 that outputs the above-described opposite phase sound.

The control unit 13 is a controller, and various programs stored in a storage device inside the audio device 10 using a RAM as a work area, for example, by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like. It is realized by being executed. The control unit 13 can be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

The control unit 13 includes a selection unit 13a, a voice acquisition unit 13b, an anti-phase conversion unit 13c, and an output control unit 13d, and realizes or executes the functions and actions of information processing described below.

The selection unit 13a receives the operation for starting the utterance of the utterer from the operation unit 2, selects the display speaker 41 that is arranged in front of the utterer and outputs the opposite phase sound while referring to the map information 12a. To do. The selection unit 13a also notifies the output control unit 13d of the selected selection result.

The operation for starting the utterance is, for example, a touch operation in which the speaker selects a conversation partner using the display speaker 41 in front of himself/herself. It may be an operation of selecting the other party by a voice command corresponding to a so-called wake word. In addition, based on the detection results of various sensors (not shown) mounted on the vehicle V, an action such as pointing at the other party or directing a line of sight to the other person for a certain period of time may be an operation for selecting the other party. ..

The voice acquisition unit 13b acquires the voice collected by the microphone 3 and outputs the voice to the anti-phase conversion unit 13c and the output control unit 13d. The anti-phase conversion unit 13c performs an anti-phase conversion on the voice input from the voice acquisition unit 13b and outputs the voice to the output control unit 13d.

The output control unit 13d causes the display speaker 41 selected by the selection unit 13a to output the anti-phase signal input from the anti-phase conversion unit 13c. In addition, the output control unit 13d causes the other display speaker 41 and the in-vehicle speaker 42 to output the sound input from the sound acquisition unit 13b.

Next, a processing procedure executed by the audio device 10 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the audio device 10 according to the embodiment.

First, the selection unit 13a receives a speech start operation by the speaker (step S101). Then, the selection unit 13a selects the display speaker 41 in front of the speaker based on the received operation (step S102).

Then, the voice acquisition unit 13b acquires the voice collected by the microphone 3 (step S103) and outputs the voice to the anti-phase conversion unit 13c and the output control unit 13d. The anti-phase conversion unit 13c performs an anti-phase conversion on the voice input from the voice acquisition unit 13b (step S104).

Then, the output control unit 13d basically outputs the voice input from the voice acquisition unit 13b from the speaker unit 4, but outputs it so that the display speaker 41 selected by the selection unit 13a outputs the opposite phase. Control is performed (step S105), and the process ends.

As described above, the audio device 10 according to the embodiment includes the microphone 3, the plurality of first speakers, the second speaker, the sound acquisition unit 13b, and the output control unit 13d. The plurality of first speakers are provided at a height position where a passenger in the vehicle compartment can visually recognize the passenger while facing forward. The second speaker is provided below the first speaker. The voice acquisition unit 13b acquires the voice generated by the sound source and collected by the microphone 3. The output control unit 13d outputs the sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit 13b in anti-phase from the first speaker near the sound source, and acquires the sound from the remaining first speaker and second speaker by the sound acquisition unit 13b. The output voice is output.

Therefore, according to the audio device 10 according to the embodiment, it is possible to specify the direction of the sound source in the passenger compartment and reproduce the sound field as if the sound is actually generated from the direction.

Further, the first speaker is a display speaker 41 in which a panel-shaped speaker is mounted on the display, and the second speaker is an in-vehicle speaker 42 (corresponding to an example of a “speaker”) disposed near a door in a vehicle compartment. ).

Therefore, according to the audio device 10 according to the embodiment, it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic sound localization feeling including the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in the passenger compartment.

In addition, the sound source is a speaker of the passengers, and the output control unit 13d outputs the voice acquired by the voice acquisition unit 13b in reverse phase from the display speaker 41 arranged in the vicinity of the speaker.

Therefore, according to the audio device 10 according to the embodiment, it is possible to specify the azimuth of the speaker and reproduce the sound field from the azimuth in the ICC in the vehicle interior as if the sound was actually produced.

(Other embodiments)
By the way, although the case where the speaker is used as the sound source in so-called ICC has been described as an example in the above-described embodiment, the sound source is not limited to, for example, the one in the vehicle interior.

A configuration example in such a case will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5B. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an acoustic system 1A according to another embodiment. Since FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 2, only the points different from FIG. 2 will be described in the description using FIG.

In addition, FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams (No. 1) and (No. 2) showing specific examples of the reproduction scene of the direction of the sound by the acoustic system 1A according to another embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, an acoustic system 1A according to another embodiment is different from that in FIG. 2 in that it further includes various sensors 5. Further, the point that the control unit 13 of the audio device 10 further includes a surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e is different from the case of FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 4, the microphone 3 provided outside the vehicle is different from the case of FIG.

The various sensors 5 are various sensors that are mounted on the vehicle V and are used to acquire the situation around the vehicle V. The various sensors 5 include, for example, cameras and radars.

The surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e acquires the surrounding condition of the vehicle V based on the detection results of the various sensors 5, and notifies the output control unit 13d of the acquired condition. The surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e notifies the output control unit 13d of the position information of the object moving around the vehicle V, for example, at any time.

More specifically, the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e captures, for example, another vehicle approaching the vehicle V in a certain speed range based on the detection result of the camera or the radar, and notifies the output control unit 13d of the capture result at any time. To do. Further, the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e recognizes a person walking or stopping around, for example, and notifies the output control unit 13d of the capture result at any time. In addition, the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e determines a target that may collide with another approaching vehicle or a person in the vicinity, and notifies the output control unit 13d of the determination result at any time.

Based on the notification from the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e, the output control unit 13d performs opposite phase output from the display speaker 41 closest to the moving sound source direction, while outputting the microphone 3 from the other display speaker 41 and the in-vehicle speaker 42. The sound collected by is output.

As a result, it is possible to reproduce a sound field that makes the listener feel a stereoscopic sound localization while reducing the overlap of the direct sound from the sound source in the vehicle interior. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, using a bicycle near the vehicle V as a sound source, reproducing a sound field in which the direction of the sound that changes when the bicycle passes through is stereoscopically localized by the listener. You can

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5B, the sound source is an airplane above the vehicle V, and the direction of the sound that changes when the airplane passes above the vehicle V is stereoscopically localized to the listener. The place can be reproduced.

As described above, the acoustic device 10 according to another embodiment further includes the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e. The surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e acquires a condition around the vehicle interior based on the detection results of various sensors 5 (corresponding to an example of “sensor”) mounted on the vehicle V. The output control unit 13d selects the first speaker that outputs the sound in the opposite phase based on the acquisition result of the surrounding condition acquisition unit 13e.

Therefore, according to the audio device 10 according to the embodiment, not only the ICC in the vehicle interior but also the direction of the sound source outside the vehicle interior is specified, and the sound field is reproduced as if the sound is actually generated from the direction. You can

Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the broader aspects of the present invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1, 1A Acoustic system 2 Operation part 3 Microphone 4 Speaker part 5 Various sensors 10 Acoustic device 13a Selection part 13b Voice acquisition part 13c Reverse phase conversion part 13d Output control part 13e Ambient condition acquisition part 41 Display speaker 42 In-vehicle speaker D driver P1, P2 passenger V vehicle

Claims (5)

Mike
A plurality of first speakers provided at a height position where a passenger in the vehicle compartment can visually recognize the passengers when facing forward;
A second speaker provided below the first speaker;
A sound acquisition unit that acquires a sound generated by a sound source and collected by the microphone;
The sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit is output in anti-phase from the first speaker near the sound source, and is acquired by the sound acquisition unit from the remaining first speaker and second speaker. An audio device, comprising: an output control unit that outputs sound. The first speaker is
It is a display speaker with a panel-shaped speaker mounted on the display,
The second speaker is
It is a speaker arrange|positioned near the door of the said vehicle interior. The acoustic device of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The sound source is
A speaker of the passengers,
The output control unit,
The audio device according to claim 2, wherein the display speaker arranged in the vicinity of the speaker outputs the voice acquired by the voice acquisition unit in anti-phase. Further comprising an ambient condition acquisition unit for acquiring a condition around the vehicle compartment based on a detection result of a sensor mounted on the vehicle,
The output control unit,
The acoustic device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first speaker that outputs a voice in a reverse phase is selected based on an acquisition result of the ambient condition acquisition unit. A microphone, a plurality of first speakers provided at a height position where a passenger in the vehicle compartment can visually recognize the vehicle in a state of facing forward, and a second speaker provided below the first speaker. A sound field control method using an acoustic device provided,
A voice acquisition step of acquiring a voice generated by a sound source and collected by the microphone;
The sound acquired in the sound acquisition step is output in anti-phase from the first speaker near the sound source, and is acquired from the remaining first speaker and the second speaker in the sound acquisition step. And an output control step of outputting a sound.

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