JP6508899B2 - Sound environment control device and sound environment control system using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sound environment control device that performs control such that the sound environment in a residential space is comfortable, and a sound environment control system using the same.

  Heretofore, various techniques have been proposed for preventing sound leakage using a masking effect (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). The masking effect is that, when two types of sound signals are propagated in the same space, in the listener in the space, one sound (noise sound) is wiped out by the other sound (masking sound) and the noise sound is It is a phenomenon that becomes difficult to hear. Most of this type of technology radiates masking sound toward the area where the speaker that is the source of the target sound is located, and the adjacent area via a wall or screen. As the masking sound, a person's speech, an air conditioning sound, a sound of the natural world (for example, a wind or a wave), and the like are used.

  For example, if a conference is being performed in a conference area in an environment where the work area and the conference area are adjacent to each other, the talker's speech (noise noise) is made inaudible (masked) to the work area adjacent to the conference area. It emits a sound for masking (masking sound). This is a technology based on the idea of speech privacy, and by doing this, the speech of the conferee is transmitted to the work area and the person in the work area is not bothered, and Information is not leaked to people in the area.

  Also, communicate with the device that generates the sound you want to hear (target sound) such as TV and radio through the communication means and the device that generates the noise sound such as the vacuum cleaner, and if the noise sound occurs, the volume of the target sound It has been proposed that the target sound can be easily heard by raising it automatically (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

Patent No. 5103973 gazette JP, 2012-194528, A JP, 2014-100281, A

  However, in the prior art as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in the case where the target sound which is the sound to be heard is present in the same space in addition to the noise sound which is the sound which you do not want to hear There is a problem that masking by the sound makes it difficult to hear the target sound.

  Moreover, although the said technique can also be applied to a general household, when using the sound of an air conditioner as a masking sound, for example, in order to put out the sound of a ventilation fan in a general household, a temporary effect is acquired to the sound of a ventilation fan. However, due to the difference in frequency characteristics, there is a problem that the masking sound can be heard as noise. In addition, when a natural sound is used as a masking sound, it is a sound that can not be heard in ordinary homes, so the ability to hear such a sound gives an aurally unnatural sense, which is also aurally psychological. Also had the problem of giving discomfort.

  Further, since the conventional technology as described in Patent Document 3 is a simple sound pressure control, the audibility such as the frequency is not considered, that is, the acoustic characteristics of the living space are not considered, etc. In practice, when a person listens, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain the effect of making the target sound easy to hear.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and makes it difficult to hear only the noise sound even when the target sound exists in the same space in addition to the noise sound (the noise sound is not noticeable It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound environment control device capable of effectively making the target sound easy to hear (make an environment capable of concentrating on the target sound), and a sound environment control system using the same.

  The sound environment control device according to the present invention comprises a sound measurement unit that measures sound in sets of 2 or more channels, a communication unit that communicates with a noise sound generation source and a target sound generation source, and the sound measurement unit A control device for determining an acoustic characteristic of the noise sound based on the signal of the processed sound and generating a masking sound according to the acoustic characteristic and the information obtained from the communication means; Sound emitting means capable of emitting in a dimensional direction, wherein the sound emitting means is disposed on the generation side of the noise sound in the masking area which is an area for making it easy to hear the target sound, and the masking sound is the noise It radiates in the direction of the source of the sound.

  According to the sound environment control device according to the present invention, even when the target sound is present in the same living space in addition to the noise sound, the masking sound from the sound radiating means disposed on the noise source generation side in the masking area By emitting the noise toward the generation source of the noise sound, it is possible to make it difficult for the masking target person to hear only the noise sound and to make the target sound easy to hear. In addition, a high masking effect can be obtained by adjusting the masking sound according to the information of the noise sound generation source and the target sound generation source obtained through the communication means, and the target sound can be effectively made easier to hear. Can.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a side view which shows the example of introduction of the sound environment control system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view which shows the introduction example of the sound environment control system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a control device of a sound environment control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a control flow diagram of the sound environment control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the frequency characteristic concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of phase control of the masking sound of the sound radiation means with respect to the phase characteristic of the sound of the ventilation fan which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows direction of the masking sound by the phase control of the sound radiation means which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the evaluation result by the masking back and front of the sound environment control system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view which shows the example of introduction of the sound environment control system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The present invention is not limited by the embodiments described below. Moreover, in the following drawings, the relationship of the magnitude | size of each structural member may differ from an actual thing.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an introduction example of the sound environment control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a top view showing an introduction example of the sound environment control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is there.
In the first embodiment, in order to make the sound environment in the living space 100 comfortable, the masking effect by the masking sound is used. 1 and 2 show an example in which a sound environment control system using a sound environment control device is introduced to a living space 100 of a general household, and in the living space 100, the open kitchen 10 and the living room 20 are mutually different. Adjacent, they are separated by a counter 12. Moreover, the dotted line in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 has shown the boundary line of the open kitchen 10 and the living 20. As shown in FIG. Further, L in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 indicates an L channel, and R indicates an R channel.

  The sound environment control device according to the first embodiment emits masking sound and masks noise sound with the masking sound, thereby making it difficult to hear only the noise sound (so as to make the noise sound not noticeable). It makes the target sound easy to hear (makes it possible to concentrate on the target sound). In the first embodiment, a ventilation fan 11 in the open kitchen 10 as a noise noise source and a TV 21 in the living room 20 as a target noise source will be described as an example. The masking target is a consumer (viewer 40) who is sitting on the sofa 22 of the living room 20 and watching the TV 21, and the sofa 22 and the viewer 40 target the ventilation fan 11 that is the noise source and the target. It is located in the masking area 23 between the TV 21 that is the source of sound.

  Here, the person to be masked is a person who can easily hear the target sound by masking the noise sound with the masking sound, and the masking area is an area where the person to be masked is present, and the noise sound is generated by the masking sound. It is an area where the target sound becomes easy to hear by masking the.

Other sources of noise include a dishwasher, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, and a microwave oven, and other sources of target sound include a radio, a component, an instrument, and the like.
Further, the ventilation fan 11 corresponds to the "noise sound generating device" of the present invention, and the TV 21 corresponds to the "target sound generating device" of the present invention.

  And when the cooker 41 who is in the open kitchen 10 operates the ventilation fan 11 to perform cooking, the sound (noise noise) of the ventilation fan 11 causes the TV 21 in the living room 20 as shown by the arrow 13 in FIG. 1 and FIG. It is reflected and propagated to the viewer 40 who is watching it directly or as shown by the arrow 14 shown in FIG. Therefore, it is difficult for the viewer 40 to hear the sound (target sound) propagated from the TV 21 as indicated by the arrows 24 in FIGS. 1 and 2 due to the noise sound.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, the viewer 40 can easily hear the sound (target sound) of the TV 21 by masking the sound (noise sound) of the ventilation fan 11 with the masking sound emitted from the sound environment control device.

  The sound environment control system according to the first embodiment includes at least the TV 21 which is a generation source of the target sound, and the sound environment control device, and the sound environment control device includes at least the sound measurement means 31 and the sound environment control device. It comprises a radiation means 32, a control device 33, a communication means 34, and a human detection means 35.

The sound measurement means 31 measures acoustic characteristics, and sets at least 2 ch (stereo system) or more to perform acoustic measurement (measures the intensity and direction of sound) by the sound intensity method. It can be a three-dimensional microphone. Further, the sound measurement means 31 are respectively installed near the left and right ears of the viewer 40 in the masking area 23. That is to measure the sound as close as possible to the sound entering the left and right ears of the viewer 40 because the acoustic characteristics change depending on the position even in the same living space 100. And it is for acquiring the acoustic characteristic of the sound (noise sound) of the exact ventilation fan 11, and generating the masking sound with a high masking effect based on it.
In the first embodiment, the sound measurement means 31 is installed on the ceiling above the viewer 40.

  Here, there are two ears on the left and right of the viewer 40 who is the masking target, and the directionality of the sound can be known by the propagation path or time difference of the sound entering the left and right ears. In addition, the sound of the ventilation fan 11 is propagated from all directions of the viewer 40 in the front / rear / left / right / up and down directions, and the sound of the ventilation fan 11 is transmitted to the viewer 40 by knowing the characteristics of the propagating sound. It is possible to know exactly what it sounds like.

  Therefore, in order to accurately know the acoustic characteristics (the directionality of sound by phase characteristic detection, sound pressure level, frequency characteristics, etc.), two or more channels are combined as described above, and the audience 40 who is the masking target is A three-dimensional microphone capable of measuring sound by the sound intensity method is installed in the vicinity of the left and right ears, and the acoustic characteristics associated with the sound propagation of the ventilation fan 11 at that place are measured.

  The sound radiating means 32 radiates a masking sound, and emits in a predetermined direction at least a pair of 2ch (stereo system) or more so that the masking sound can be radiated individually for each ear. It is a three-dimensional speaker that can Further, the sound radiating means 32 are respectively installed near the left and right ears of the viewer 40 in the masking area 23 (at least behind the left and right ears of the viewer 40 (the ventilation fan 11 side)).

Here, the noise sound includes the direct sound (arrow 13) and the reflected sound (arrow 14) from the ventilation fan 11, and the reflected sound is viewed while being reflected on the wall of the living space 100 at many stages. The sound is transmitted to the person 40. Therefore, when the sound radiating means 32 is installed at a position away from the viewer 40, even if the masking sound is emitted, it is not possible to mask the reflected sound coming around, and a high masking effect can not be obtained. Therefore, by arranging the sound radiating means 32 in the vicinity of the left and right ears of the viewer 40, it is possible to mask even the above-mentioned reflected sound coming around, and a high masking effect can be obtained. Further, at least the rear side (the ventilation fan 11 side) of the left and right ears of the viewer 40 is to be able to perform masking during the propagation of the noise sound to the viewer 40.
In the first embodiment, the sound radiating means 32 is installed on the ceiling above the head of the viewer 40, and is assumed to be directly below.

  Here, there are two ears on the left and right of the audience 40 who are to be masked, and a higher masking effect can be obtained by individually emitting a masking sound to each ear. Also, a high masking effect can be obtained by radiating the masking sound toward the noise sound.

  As described above, the sound radiating means 32 is a set of two or more channels in order to obtain a high masking effect, and is a three-dimensional speaker capable of directing the masking sound to the noise sound in a three-dimensional direction.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the control device 33 of the sound environment control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 3, L indicates an L channel and R indicates an R channel.
The control device 33 generates a masking sound according to the acoustic characteristics, and controls the sound emitting means 32. The control device 33 is configured of, for example, a CPU, a memory, and the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the sound detection unit 33a, the masking sound processing unit 33b, the communication processing unit 33c, the detection processing unit 33d, and the storage unit (not shown) are provided.

  The acoustic detection unit 33a obtains acoustic characteristics (a directionality of sound by phase characteristic detection, a sound pressure level, a frequency characteristic, and the like) based on the sound signal measured by the sound measurement unit 31 which is a three-dimensional microphone.

  Further, the masking sound processing unit 33 b performs sound control (phase control, sound pressure level adjustment, frequency adjustment, and the like) based on the sound characteristics obtained by the sound detection unit 33 a. That is, the masking sound according to the acoustic characteristic is generated. Also, when it is determined that there is no change in the sound environment, acoustic characteristics are stored in a storage unit (not shown) (memory function).

  Further, the communication processing unit 33c processes and detects information such as operation start (POW ON) of the device, air volume setting (for example, high / medium / weak), volume setting (for example, large / medium / small) from the communication means 34. The processing unit 33 d processes information from the person detection unit 35 such as the presence or absence of a person, the position, and the orientation of a face.

  The communication means 34 is for communicating the operation state of the ventilation fan 11 which is a generation source of noise sound and the TV 21 which is a generation source of target sound with the control device 33. There are methods such as HEMS, infrared method, wireless method and so on.

  The contents of communication include the operation start of ventilation fan 11 and the information of air volume setting, the information of the operation start of TV 21 and the volume setting, etc., and it becomes possible to indirectly transmit and receive the sound fluctuating due to the operation state of those. There is.

  Here, HEMS has spread rapidly in recent years and the number of compatible products has increased in recent years, so HEMS is effective as a means to communicate between remote devices in a house. In addition, there are also many products installed as a communication method, such as remote control of equipment by remote control and interlocking of a stove and a ventilation fan. Therefore, by using these existing ones as the communication means 34, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated communication means 34, and cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, installation of the sound environment control device can be simplified.

  The human detection means 35 is for detecting the presence or absence of a human, the position of a human, the orientation of a face, etc., and is constituted by, for example, a sensor of infrared light, ultrasonic waves, visible light or the like. A single-element sensor has a movable structure vertically and horizontally, and the position of a person can be accurately detected by scanning the inside of the target area, and a multi-element sensor can be used to detect the height and face of a person. It becomes possible to detect up to the direction.

  In addition, many infrared sensors are mounted on existing home electric appliances, for example, in order to detect an area of a person in an air conditioner, to determine a position of a person or a part of a body and to blow air, and the like. Therefore, by using the existing infrared sensor as the human detection means 35, there is no need to provide a dedicated human detection means 35, and cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, installation of the sound environment control device can be simplified.

FIG. 4 is a control flow diagram of the sound environment control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Since there is an acoustic characteristic in the living space 100 that repeatedly changes with time, the acoustic characteristic (phase characteristic detection of the place where the living space 100 is installed is detected by the sound measurement means 31 which is a three-dimensional microphone) The directionality of the sound, the sound pressure level, the frequency characteristics, etc.) are measured (step S1). Then, the acoustic characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 are obtained. At this time, when the power supply of the TV 21 is turned off, the acoustic characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 can be easily obtained.

  Since the sound transmitted from the open kitchen 10 to the living room 20 measured by the sound measurement means 31 includes the sound of the ventilation fan 11, after converting the analog signal of the sound measured by the sound measurement means 31 into a digital signal, By performing frequency analysis such as fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, the frequency characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained. Furthermore, the sound pressure level and the phase characteristic of the ventilation fan 11 can be obtained from the frequency characteristic.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing frequency characteristics according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The horizontal axis in FIG. 5 indicates the frequency (Hz) and the vertical axis indicates the amplitude (dB). Further, in the first embodiment, since a three-dimensional microphone is used as the sound measurement means 31, actually, the frequency characteristic from the three-dimensional (front / rear / left / right / up / down) direction is obtained, but in FIG. Only the frequency characteristics of
By performing frequency analysis from this frequency characteristic, acoustic characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 can be obtained (in fact, frequency analysis in each of three-dimensional directions is performed, but will be omitted in the following description).

  Next, the acoustic characteristics of the TV 21 are determined. At this time, when the power supply of the ventilation fan 11 is turned off, the acoustic characteristics of the TV 21 can be easily obtained. Since the sound transmitted to the viewer 40 in the living room 20 measured by the sound measurement means 31 includes the sound of the TV 21, the analog signal of the sound measured by the sound measurement means 31 is converted to a digital signal, and then fast Fourier By performing frequency analysis such as transform (FFT) processing, the frequency characteristic of the TV 21 shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained. Furthermore, the sound pressure level and phase characteristics of the TV 21 can be obtained from the frequency characteristics.

  Here, it is difficult to say that the sound of the TV 21 is various media such as music, drama, movie, news and the like depending on the media to be broadcast / reproduced, and it is not a stationary acoustic characteristic. Although there are differences between male and female voices that are included in the broadcast, there is a characteristic that the feature amount is in the frequency band from 500 Hz to around 3 kHz.

  Among human auditory characteristics, 1 kHz has the most audible characteristic as seen in the known Zwicker loudness curve (not shown), and the auditory response is dull at low frequencies. In addition, it is known that up to around 3 kHz is the most easily heard frequency band in consideration of high frequency and age.

  In fact, as shown in FIG. 5, in the frequency characteristic of the sound propagating from the TV 21 etc., the sound that can be explained in the above-mentioned frequency band propagates. Therefore, in order to make it easy to hear the sound from the TV 21 or the like, it is important to be able to reliably hear the sound in the 500 Hz to 3 kHz band.

  If there is a positional relationship between the ventilation fan 11 (the source of noise noise), the TV 21 (the source of target sound), and the viewer 40 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frequency as shown in FIG. Use masking sound having characteristics.

  And since the sound of the frequency band which is not related to the sound of TV21 from ventilation fan 11 is transmitted to the audience 40 who is watching TV21 etc. as a big sound pressure level, sound radiation means 32 (3 dimensional speaker The sound whose directivity is controlled by the phase control described later) is emitted in the direction in which the sound of the ventilation fan 11 propagates.

  In addition, the control device 33 obtains information on the air volume setting of the ventilation fan 11 and the volume setting of the TV 21 through the communication means 34, thereby changing the sound of the ventilation fan 11 and the TV 21 when the sound measured by the sound measuring means 31 changes. It is possible to easily determine which is the cause. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the masking sound in real time particularly when only the volume of the TV 21 changes. Conversely, when the air volume of the ventilation fan 11 changes, basically only the sound pressure level of the masking sound may be changed with respect to the acoustic characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 immediately before (before the change). For example, when the air volume of the ventilation fan 11 changes from weak to strong, the sound pressure level of the masking sound is raised.

  As described above, by adjusting the masking sound according to the information of the ventilation fan 11 and the TV 21 obtained through the communication means 34, a high masking effect can be obtained, and the target sound can be effectively made easier to hear.

  Further, when the presence or absence of the viewer 40 is detected by the human detection means 35 and the presence of the viewer 40 in the living space 100 is detected, the masking sound is emitted, but when the absence of the viewer 40 is detected. Do not emit masking sound. By doing so, radiation of unnecessary masking sound can be suppressed, and an energy saving effect can be obtained.

  Furthermore, in the case where a plurality of sound radiating means 32 are disposed in the living space 100, the position of the viewer 40 is detected by the human detection means 35, whereby masking sound from the sound radiating means 32 is detected according to the position of the viewer 40. Can emit a high masking effect. Specifically, a masking sound is emitted toward the ventilation fan 11 from the sound radiating means 32 disposed closer to the viewer 40 than the viewer 40, which is the generation source of noise noise than the viewer 40. A high masking effect is obtained.

  Next, the control device 33 obtains information on the air volume setting of the ventilation fan 11 and the volume setting of the TV 21 through the communication means 34 (step S2). Then, based on the acoustic characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 obtained as described above and various information obtained through the communication means 34, the masking sound processing unit 33b of the control device 33 generates a masking sound (step S3).

  First, sound pressure level adjustment is performed so as to be a constant sound pressure level regardless of frequency. If there is a characteristic frequency (peak dip), it will be a factor giving unpleasant sensation. Therefore, as in the frequency characteristics of the masking sound shown in FIG. 5, sound pressure level adjustment is performed using, for example, a filter (low pass filter, high pass filter, band pass filter) so that the characteristic frequency (peak dip) disappears. This can reduce auditory discomfort. The frequency range to be controlled is 500 Hz to 3 kHz.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of phase control of masking sound of the sound radiating means 32 with respect to phase characteristics of sound of the ventilation fan 11 according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a sound according to the first embodiment of the present invention It is a figure which shows direction of the masking sound by the phase control of the radiation means 32. FIG.

  Next, phase control of the sound emitting means 32 for determining in which direction the masking sound is to be emitted is performed using, for example, an all-pass filter. This is time control for matching the phase characteristics of the sound of the ventilation fan 11 in the masking area 23 with the phase characteristics of the masking sound of the sound radiating means 32.

  In the first embodiment, the phase control is performed, and the frequency characteristics of the masking sound as shown in FIG. 5 are reproduced from each sound emitting means 32 with a time difference and a phase difference as shown in FIG. .

  Then, sound radiation whose directivity is controlled by phase control is performed from each of the sound radiation means 32 as shown in FIG. 7 and propagation of the ventilation fan 11 which is the generation source direction of noise noise from above the head of the viewer 40 A masking sound is emitted in the direction of the coming sound. In FIG. 7, phase control is performed so as to be inclined 45 degrees toward the ventilation fan 11 from on the front axis (above the head of the viewer 40), but it is not limited thereto and a high masking effect can be obtained Good angle.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the purpose is not to extinguish the sound of the ventilation fan 11 but to make it difficult to hear the sound of the ventilation fan 11 at the position of the viewer 40. That is, the characteristic frequency characteristics of the ventilation fan 11 Purpose is to make it difficult to understand Therefore, frequency control is performed such that the frequency characteristic is relatively flat.

  In addition, the masking sound is emitted toward the ventilation fan 11 (the generation source of noise sound), and masking before the sound of the ventilation fan 11 propagates to the viewer 40 makes it difficult to hear the noise sound at the position of the viewer 40 It is like that. Therefore, the sound radiating means 32 needs to be installed on the rear side (vent 11 side) of the left and right ears of the viewer 40. In the first embodiment, the sound radiating means 32 is installed on the ceiling above the head of the viewer 40, and is assumed to be directly below.

  Moreover, the frequency characteristic of the ventilation fan 11 after masking shown in FIG. 5 is a frequency characteristic when the sound of the ventilation fan 11 propagating to the vicinity of the viewer 40 in the living room 20 is masked by the masking sound. This is a result of analysis of the acoustic characteristics behind the left and right ears of the viewer 40, and is a characteristic in which the distinctively projecting frequency band is expanded.

  Here, when it is determined that there is no change in the sound environment (Yes in step S4), the measured acoustic characteristic is stored in the storage unit (not shown) of the control device 33 (step S5). As described above, the sound environment in ordinary homes does not change significantly unless the furniture in the room is changed or the installation place is changed due to remodeling, etc. Therefore, if the measured acoustic characteristics are stored, the sound environment does not change. It is possible to use stored acoustic characteristics as far as possible.

  Next, when it is detected that the viewer 40 is present in the living space 100 (Yes in step S6), a masking sound is emitted from the sound radiating means 32 toward the ventilation fan 11 (generation source of noise sound) (step S7). Then, when the masking sound is emitted from the sound radiating means 32 toward the ventilation fan 11 (the generation source of noise sound), the acoustic characteristic of the masking sound is obtained. Since the sound transmitted from inside the living room 20 of the living space 100 to the open kitchen 10 contains masking sound, the analog signal of the sound measured by the sound measurement means 31 is converted to a digital signal, and then the fast Fourier transform ( By performing frequency analysis such as FFT processing, acoustic characteristics of the masking sound (directivity of sound by phase characteristic detection, sound pressure level, frequency characteristic, etc.) can be obtained (step S1). Specifically, measurement of sound propagation time, sound pressure level detection, and acoustic characteristic analysis according to direction. This is to measure how the masking sound is actually emitted from the sound radiating means 32, and the masking sound is adjusted based on the measurement result. That is, by performing feedback control, it is made to emit the masking sound optimal to the noise sound.

  When there is no change in the sound environment, the acoustic characteristics of the masking sound can be easily obtained by using the acoustic characteristics stored in the storage unit. That is, the acoustic characteristic of the masking sound can be obtained by the difference between the acoustic characteristic measured after emitting the masking sound and the acoustic characteristic stored in the storage unit measured before emitting the masking sound.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an evaluation result before and after masking of the sound environment control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In addition, (a) is an auditory response before and after masking with respect to the sound of the ventilation fan 11, and (b) is an auditory sitting on the sofa 22 of the living room 20 with respect to sensitivity of hearing before and after masking with respect to the sound of the TV 21. It shows the results of subjective evaluation on a seven-level semantic scale using adjective pairs for 20 normal persons (age random). Further, Δ in FIG. 8 indicates the result before masking, ○ indicates the result after masking, and Δ-Δ and −-O indicate the evaluation range of 20 persons.

  As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the hearing-impaired person (age random) who sat on the sofa 22 of the living room 20 felt the noise of the ventilation fan 11 (very) unpleasant before masking, but after masking ( It turns out that I feel very comfortable. That is, it can be confirmed that the noise of the ventilation fan 11 is hard to hear (the noise noise is not noticeable) by performing the masking. Also, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the hearing-impaired person (age random) who sat on the sofa 22 of the living room 20 did not hear the sound of the TV 21 sufficiently before masking (but after masking ( I understand that I can hear you well. That is, it can be confirmed that the sound of the TV 21 can be easily heard (the environment where it is possible to concentrate on the target sound) by performing the masking.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, when the target sound is present in the same space in addition to the noise sound, the sound environment control device causes the masking sound to be emitted and the noise sound is masked by the masking sound. By doing so, it is possible to make the target sound easy to hear (make it an environment where it is possible to concentrate on the target sound) by making it difficult to hear the noise sound (not make the noise sound stand out).

Further, by adjusting the masking sound according to the information of the noise sound generation source and the target sound generation source obtained through the communication means 34, a high masking effect can be obtained, and the target sound can be effectively made easier to hear. be able to.
Further, when the presence or absence of the viewer 40 is detected by the human detection means 35 and the presence of the viewer 40 in the living space 100 is detected, the masking sound is emitted, but when the absence of the viewer 40 is detected. By not emitting the masking sound, unnecessary radiation of the masking sound can be suppressed and an energy saving effect can be obtained. Furthermore, when a plurality of sound radiating means 32 are arranged in the living space 100, the position of the viewer 40 is detected by the human detection means 35, whereby the masking sound from the sound radiating means 32 according to the position of the viewer 40 is detected. Can emit a high masking effect.

  In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which the sound environment control system is introduced to the living space 100 consisting of the open kitchen 10 and the living 20, which is a relatively narrow space, but the present invention is not limited thereto. May be introduced to In such a case, the sound measurement means 31 may be installed at a plurality of locations, and measurement may be performed in the same manner to obtain acoustic characteristics of sound propagating in a wide space. In addition, noise sound can be masked over a wide range by installing the sound radiating means 32 at a plurality of places.

  In addition, although the sound measurement means 31 and the sound emission means 32 are installed on the ceiling above the viewer 40, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the sound measurement means 31 and the sound emission means 32 are moved and installed near the viewer 40 By installing the sound radiating means 32 in the vicinity of the viewer 40, it is possible to configure a control space by masking even for a living environment that has already been completed.

  Here, in general, a TV is equipped with a speaker for sound emission, and the speaker for sound emission can also be used as a microphone. Therefore, an existing TV speaker or the like provided in advance in the living space 100 may be used as the sound measurement means 31. By doing so, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated sound measurement means 31, and cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, installation of the sound environment control device can be simplified.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 9 is a top view showing an example of introduction of the sound environment control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described, but the same parts as those in the first embodiment will be omitted, and the same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In the first embodiment, the case of the ventilation fan 11 which is an object (stationary object) in which the noise sound generation source does not move has been described, but in the second embodiment, an object (moving object) in which the noise sound generation source moves The case of the vacuum cleaner 15 which is this is demonstrated. The cleaner 15 is driven by the cleaner 42 and is moving.

  The sound transmitted from the open kitchen 10 of the living space 100 to the living room 20 includes the sound of the vacuum cleaner 15. However, in the living room 20, the direct sound (arrow 16) and reflection from the vacuum cleaner 15 are reflected. A sound (arrow 17) is included, and the reflected sound is reflected to the wall of the living space 100 in multiple stages while the sound is transmitted to the viewer 40 in the living room 20.

  In the second embodiment, a plurality of (three or more) sound measurement means 36 are installed at an arbitrary position in the living space 100 in order to reliably detect the generation source of the moving noise sound, and measurement of sound is performed. Do. The sound measurement means 36 is a nondirectional microphone, and detects sounds from various directions. However, it is not limited thereto, and may have directivity. Further, the sound measurement means 36 is installed in a passage 50 (a corridor or the like) necessary for the vacuum cleaner 15 to move, at fixed intervals (for example, 1 m) in one or two dimensions. In addition, the measurement of the sound with respect to the movement of the two-dimensional direction of the vacuum cleaner 15 can be made more accurate by installing with respect to a two-dimensional direction.

  Here, the sound generally generated from a home appliance (such as the vacuum cleaner 15) smaller than the living space 100 can be regarded as a point sound source in terms of acoustic characteristics, and the sound propagates uniformly throughout the living space 100. It can be assumed that. At this time, in the passage 50 of the living space 100, the sound generated from the vacuum cleaner 15 or the like propagates as a longitudinal wave, so the sound waves corresponding to the wavelength of the frequency emitted from the noise sound generation source have constant intervals Will propagate in the corridor at the wavelength of

  Therefore, in order to capture this wavelength, by installing a plurality of sound measurement means 36 at fixed intervals in the one-dimensional or two-dimensional direction, if measuring the compression wave of the sound for a fixed time, the frequency of the noise sound is FFT It can be calculated by processing. Furthermore, by measuring at regular intervals, it is possible to calculate the moving speed of the vacuum cleaner 15, which is a noise source, using the above-mentioned frequency.

  Here, assuming that the fixed interval is M, the frequency of noise noise is F, and the speed of sound is C, the moving speed of the vacuum cleaner 15 can be obtained by FM-C. And the position of the vacuum cleaner 15 can also be grasped | ascertained by the movement speed and the difference of the sound pressure level caught with the sound measurement means 36 measured in each installation position.

  The noise sound can be effectively masked by changing the sound pressure level emitted from the sound radiating means 32 in accordance with the position of the vacuum cleaner 15 and the sound pressure level of the noise sound. It is possible to make it difficult to hear (make noise noise unnoticeable) and to make target sound easy to hear (make it an environment where it is possible to concentrate on target sound).

  Further, in the case where a plurality of sound radiating means 32 are arranged in the living space 100, the sound corresponding to the position of the viewer 40 and the position of the vacuum cleaner 15 by detecting the position of the viewer 40 by the human detection means 35 Since the masking sound can be emitted from the radiation means 32, a high masking effect can be obtained. Specifically, the cleaner 15 is disposed on a straight line connecting the vacuum cleaner 15 and the viewer 40 as much as possible, and from the sound radiating means 32 disposed closer to the vacuum cleaner 15 than the viewer 40 and closer to the viewer 40 By emitting the masking sound toward the, the high masking effect can be obtained.

  In the second embodiment, three or more sound measurement means 36 are installed at an arbitrary position in the living space 100, but the number is not limited to two and may be two.

Third Embodiment
Hereinafter, although this Embodiment 3 is described, it abbreviate | omits about what overlaps with Embodiment 1, and attaches | subjects the same code | symbol to the same part as Embodiment 1, or the part to correspond.

  As the sound environment in ordinary homes changes the reverberation and reflection characteristics depending on the arrangement of furniture etc. in the living space 100, once the installation of rough furniture is completed, the furniture in the room is changed or the installation place is changed by remodeling etc. In general, it does not change significantly unless it is caused. Therefore, if the sound characteristic of the room is first measured by the sound measurement means 31, it is not necessary to measure it many times thereafter. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the sound measurement means 31 is installed in the living space 100 only when the acoustic characteristics are first measured, and is not always installed. By doing so, cost reduction is possible. In this case, the feedback control performed in the first embodiment is not performed.

  10 open kitchen, 11 ventilating fan, 12 counters, 13 arrows, 14 arrows, 15 vacuum cleaners, 16 arrows, 17 arrows, 20 living, 21 TV, 22 sofas, 23 masking areas, 24 arrows, 31 sound measuring means, 32 sound emission Means, 33 control unit, 33a sound detection unit, 33b masking sound processing unit, 33c communication processing unit, 33d detection processing unit, 34 communication unit, 35 human detection unit, 36 sound measurement unit, 40 viewers, 41 cooks, 42 Cleaner, 50 aisles, 100 living spaces.

Claims (16)

Sound measurement means for measuring sound in sets of 2 or more channels;
Communication means for communicating with the noise source and the target source;
A control device for determining an acoustic characteristic of the noise sound based on the signal of the sound measured by the sound measurement unit, and generating a masking sound according to the acoustic characteristic and the information obtained from the communication unit;
Sound emitting means capable of emitting the masking sound in a three-dimensional direction in sets of two or more channels;
The sound radiating means is
A sound environment control device disposed on a generation source side of the noise sound in a masking area which is an area for making it easy to hear a target sound, and emitting the masking sound in the direction of the generation source of the noise sound. A person detecting means for detecting a person to be masked;
When the presence of the person to be masked is detected by the human detection means, the masking sound is emitted, and when the absence of the person to be masked is detected, the masking sound is not emitted. Sound environment control device described in. In the case where a plurality of the sound radiating means are arranged,
The sound environment control device according to claim 2, wherein the position of the person to be masked is detected by the human detection means, and the sound emitting means emits the masking sound according to the position of the person to be masked. The sound measurement means is a three-dimensional microphone capable of measuring sound by a sound intensity method,
The sound environment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sound measurement means is disposed in a masking area. The sound measuring means is a nondirectional microphone,
The sound environment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the sound measurement means are arranged at intervals. The sound environment control device according to claim 5, wherein the number of the sound measurement means is three or more, and the interval is constant. The sound environment according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a frequency characteristic of the masking sound is obtained by removing a peak-dip portion from a frequency characteristic of the noise sound obtained from the acoustic characteristic. Control device. The controller is
The sound environment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein phase control of the masking sound is performed. The acoustic characteristic of the masking sound is determined based on the signal of the sound measured by the sound measuring means, and the masking sound is adjusted according to the acoustic characteristic and the information. The sound environment control device according to any one of the preceding claims. The sound environment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sound measurement means is provided only when the sound environment control device is installed. A noise sound generating device which is a generation source of the noise sound;
A target sound generating device which is a generation source of the target sound;
A sound environment control system, comprising: the sound environment control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The noise noise generating device is a ventilation fan. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or any one of claims 7 to 10 which is not subordinate to any one of claims 5 and 6. The sound environment control system according to claim 11. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or any one of claims 5 to 10 which is not dependent on claim 4, wherein the noise generating device is a vacuum cleaner. Sound environment control system described in. The sound environment control system according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the target sound generating device is a TV. The sound environment control system according to any one of claims 11 to 14, which is used in a living space. The sound environment control system according to claim 15, wherein a speaker mounted on the TV is used as the sound measurement means.

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