JPH0727390B2 - Sound environment control method and device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sound environment control method and device, and more particularly to a sound environment control method and device for controlling a sound environment in a sound space in which a person lives.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, sound has been used to improve the living environment, working environment, and the like.

For example, in offices, tea rooms, factories, construction sites, inside vehicles, etc., background music (hereinafter referred to as B.
GM) is used to create an atmosphere in the space and to cancel noise, thereby relaxing the physiological and psychological tension of people. These are intended to physically and mentally relax by the pleasant stimulation of sound.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, even with the above-mentioned BGM, there are individual differences in the listeners who hear this, and there are people who alleviate their tensions and others who become tense.

As typified by the usage of this BGM, simply throwing an arbitrary sound in the sound space does not help relieve tension,
Rather, it will lead to a flood of sounds. This flooding of sounds is not limited to the generation of noise, but it is a situation in which a comfortable sound environment that values sound suitable for each environment is not created, which deteriorates living conditions. ,
It gives people physical and mental tension.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and by further developing the sound environment control method according to the above proposal, even when the state of the environmental sound in the sound space changes, it is included in the environmental sound. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound environment control method and device capable of masking a harsh component sound to be reduced and effectively relieving a physiological or psychological tension of a person.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the sound environment control method of the present invention is such that the envelope of the sound intensity is substantially equal in time according to the temporal change of the envelope of the sound intensity of the environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space. Changes to the artificial sound that masks the environmental sound and superimposes a specific easily audible component sound, and outputs the superposed sound into the sound space with substantially the same sound intensity as the environmental sound, It is characterized by masking so that an unpleasant sound in the sound is reduced by the artificial sound and generating fluctuations, and at the same time, alleviating the tension caused by the environmental sound by the synergistic effect of superimposing the easily audible component sound.

Further, the sound environment control device of the present invention is an environmental sound detector that detects a temporal change of the envelope of the sound intensity of an environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space as an environmental sound intensity signal wave, and the environmental sound detector. A modulator that modulates a carrier sound signal of a predetermined frequency into an intensity signal wave to form an artificial sound whose envelope of sound intensity changes according to the environmental sound intensity signal wave, and a modulator that emits the artificial sound. An easily audible component sound superimposing device that superimposes a specific easily audible component sound on an artificial sound that is generated, and a superposed sound that is emitted from this easily audible component sound superimposing device in the sound space with substantially the same strength as the environmental sound. And a superposed sound output device for outputting to.

[Action]

By operating the device of the present invention according to the method of the present invention, a sound that masks so as to reduce the noise component in the environmental sound that fluctuates arbitrarily and that relieves the physical and mental tension of a person is generated in the sound space. And the above-mentioned object is achieved.

That is, the environmental sound detector detects a temporal change in the envelope of the sound intensity of the environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space as an environmental sound intensity signal wave. After that, the modulator generates an artificial sound in which the envelope of the sound intensity of the sound to be output to the sound space is changed according to the environmental sound intensity signal wave, and then the easily audible component sound superimposing device, A specific easily audible component sound is superimposed on the artificial sound to form a superimposed sound. After that, the output device outputs the superposed sound to the sound space with substantially the same sound intensity as the environmental sound, and masks the superposed sound so as to reduce the harsh sound in the sound space. , Relieves the physiological or psychological tension of a person.

〔Example〕

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

First, the principle of the sound environment control method of the present invention will be described.

In the present invention, the basic technology is to reduce the physiological and psychological tension of a person by superposing the fluctuation noise on the environmental sound and allowing the person to listen to it.

Here, the fluctuation noise means a frequency spectrum, as shown by straight lines K1 and K2 in FIG. 1, in which the horizontal axis represents frequency f [Hz] on a logarithmic scale and the vertical axis represents a power spectrum [dB] on a logarithmic scale. Is represented by a straight line descending to the right, it is composed of noise having a power spectrum characteristic composed of a power spectrum component inversely proportional to the frequency f and the square of the frequency f ² .

Since the fluctuation noise represented by the straight line K1 has a power spectrum component that is inversely proportional to the frequency f, this is called 1 / f fluctuation noise, and the noise represented by the straight line K2 is the square of the frequency f ² Has a power spectrum component that is inversely proportional to
This is called 1 / f ² fluctuation noise.

There are various fluctuation noises in the natural world, but if these are classified according to the power spectrum characteristics, 1 / f fluctuation noise and 1 / f ² fluctuation noise, and white fluctuation noise K0 as shown by the broken line in FIG. (Having a constant power spectrum component with respect to the frequency f) can be classified into three types of fluctuation noise. Among these fluctuation noises, 1 / f and 1 / f ² fluctuation noises, which have fluctuations with a maximum frequency of about 2 to 30 [Hz], relaxed physiologically or psychologically from various brain waves. It is possible to generate an α wave that represents that the user is in a state (that is, in a state of being relaxed from stress). Therefore, by controlling the ratio of 1 / f and 1 / f ² fluctuation noise in the sound environment, it is possible to control the person's tension relaxation state.

Further, according to experiments, by using a superposed sound in which a specific easily audible component sound is superposed on the fluctuation noise, it is possible to further alleviate the physical and mental tension of a person. This easily audible component sound is a component sound that further increases the degree of tension relaxation effect due to fluctuation noise.For example, significant sounds such as music that people are accustomed to hearing, wind chimes, insect sounds, and sound spaces. On the other hand, a sound similar to the sound of a water harpoon, a bug, or a wind chime (a sound that itself gives a sound stimulus to relieve human tension).
Is a pure tone of about several hundred [Hz] to 4000 [Hz].

The present invention utilizes such a basic technique to mask so as to reduce annoying sound in environmental sound in a predetermined sound space, and emit a sound capable of relieving a person's physiological and psychological tension. It was done like this.

That is, while forming an artificial sound whose sound intensity changes according to the temporal change of the sound intensity of the environmental sound, a specific easily audible component sound is superimposed on this artificial sound, and the sound intensity of this superimposed sound is further increased. The sound intensity is made substantially equal to the sound intensity of the environmental sound, and then the sound is sent to the sound space.

In this way, the sound intensity of the artificial sound changes synchronously according to the temporal change of the sound intensity of the environmental sound, and since the output superimposed sound has almost the same sound intensity as the environmental sound, The harsh sound in the environmental sound is masked so as to be effectively reduced by the superimposed sound, and the superimposed sound becomes a pleasant stimulating sound.
In other words, for the person in the sound space, the environmental sound is heard as if it was replaced with the superposed sound, and the harsh sound is masked and cannot be heard at all, and a pleasant sound stimulus is applied to the physical and mental sounds. It effectively relieves the tension.

Next, a sound space control device for carrying out such a method of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

The device of the present invention includes an environmental sound detector 1 for detecting a temporal change in the sound intensity of an environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space as an environmental sound intensity signal wave, and a predetermined frequency for the environmental sound intensity signal wave. A modulator 2 that forms an artificial sound whose sound intensity changes according to the environmental sound intensity signal wave by modulating the carrier sound signal of
The easily audible component sound superimposing device 3 for superimposing a specific easily audible component sound on the artificial sound emitted from the modulator 2, and the superposed sound emitted from the easily audible component sound superposing device 3 are almost equal to the sound intensity of the environmental sound. It is formed by the superposed sound output device 4 that outputs to the sound space with the same strength.

Further, each component of the device of the present invention will be described together with its operation with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

First, in the environmental sound detector 1, the sound intensity of the environmental sound that temporally changes with the sound pressure level (dB) as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 is changed to the sound intensity as shown by the broken line in FIG. A correspondingly varying envelope-shaped ambient sound intensity signal is formed.

That is, in the environmental sound detector 1, the environmental sound existing in the sound space is input through the input unit 5 such as a microphone. The signal level of the input environmental sound is amplified by the amplifier 6 at the next stage to be the environmental sound signal shown by the solid line in FIG. This environmental sound signal is passed by the band filter 7 only in the frequency band suitable for obtaining the envelope, and then the signal change amount is smoothed by the rectifier filter 8 in the next stage, and the sound intensity of the environmental sound is increased. It is made into an envelope-shaped environmental sound intensity signal wave that changes following the temporal change of the pitch, and is output to the next modulator 2.

In the modulator 2, as shown in FIG. 4, the carrier sound signal wave having a predetermined frequency is modulated by the environmental sound intensity signal wave indicated by the broken line in the figure to create the artificial sound indicated by the solid line in the figure. This artificial sound is temporally changed so that the envelope of the sound pressure level becomes the environmental sound intensity signal wave.

That is, in the modulator 2, a carrier sound signal for forming an artificial sound is generated in the oscillator 9 and the bandpass filter 10 and input to the mixing unit 11. As this carrier sound, a fixed frequency sound whose frequency does not change with time,
It is advisable to select a sound with a high masking effect according to the content of the environmental sound, from among sounds of varying frequency whose frequency changes with time. The carrier sound may be a low frequency sound, an easily audible sound, or an ultrasonic wave. For example, an appropriate carrier sound may be selected from white noise and pink noise corresponding to K0 and K1 in FIG. 1 or band noise. Further, not only unintentional sounds such as white noise, pink noise, and band noise, but also significant sounds familiar to humans may be used. When such a carrier sound signal is input to the mixing unit 11, the mixing unit 11 performs amplitude modulation using the carrier sound signal as a carrier wave and the environmental sound intensity signal wave input from the rectifier filter 8 as a signal wave. Then, the envelope as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 forms an artificial sound that matches the environmental sound intensity signal wave and outputs it to the next audible component sound superimposing device 3. The sound intensity of this artificial sound changes temporally in synchronization with the sound intensity of the environmental sound.

As shown in FIG. 5, the easy audible component sound superimposing device 3 superimposes a specific easy audible component sound having a slanted line in the same figure on the artificial sound generated by the modulator 2 at an appropriate position. Form a superimposed sound. As the easily audible component sound, for example, a significant sound or a pure sound composed of a natural sound, music, a synthesized sound by a synthesizer, or the like is used.

That is, the easily audible component sound superimposing device 3 of the present embodiment is provided with the tape deck 12 and the synthesizer 13 in order to generate the easily audible sound and send it to the mixing section 14.
On the other hand, the tape deck 12 outputs sounds in the natural world, sounds of musical instruments, etc., and reproduces music recorded in advance, sounds of wind chimes, etc. and sends them to the mixing unit 14. The other synthesizer 13 outputs an artificially synthesized sound.
The easily audible component sound emitted by the tape deck 12 and the synthesizer 13 is superimposed on the artificial sound input from the modulator 2 in the mixing unit 14 to be a superimposed sound. The superimposed position of the easily audible component sound is a position where the easily audible component sound forms a consonant with the artificial sound, or a position where the easily audible component sound can be heard as a pure tone. Then, the superimposed sound is output to the superimposed sound output device 4.

In this superposed sound output device 4, the easily audible component sound superposing device 3
The superposed sound input from is output to the sound space with almost the same sound intensity as the environmental sound of the sound space.

That is, the superimposed sound output from the easily audible component sound superimposing device 3 is input to the two amplifiers 15 and 16. These amplifiers 15,
Amplification controller 17 sends the sound intensity of the environmental sound to 16 as a control signal, and amplifies the sound intensity of the superimposed sound until it becomes substantially equal to the sound intensity of the environmental sound. The superposed sound amplified by the one amplifier 15 is output into the sound environment via the speaker 18. The superimposed sound amplified by the other amplifier 16 is output to the outside as a vibration via a vibrator 19 attached to a chair, a pillow, a bed or the like.

According to the apparatus of the present embodiment, each component of the configuration is related-operated by the CPU 20, and immediately after the environmental sound is input through the input unit 5, the intensity of the environmental sound is adjusted through the speaker 18 and the shaker 19. Appropriately superimposed sound and vibration are output.

When a superposed sound is played in the sound space in real time through the speaker 18 in this manner, an artificial sound that changes in time synchronization with a sound intensity almost equal to the sound intensity of the environmental sound in the sound space. Masks by canceling the harsh sound in the environmental sound. Moreover, since the artificial sound changes the sound intensity in association with the low-frequency temporal change in the sound intensity of the environmental sound, it has one type of fluctuation, Relieves psychological tension. Furthermore,
Since the easily audible sound superimposed on the artificial sound is listened at an appropriate time, the effect of tension relaxation is further enhanced.

Also, when using a chair or the like attached to the shaker 19,
The vibrator 19 vibrates in accordance with the sound wave of the superimposed sound, so that the user receives sound stimulation due to the vibration, and the physical and mental tension is relieved. This will also be effective in promoting human health.

The sound space that is the target of the sound environment control according to the present invention includes:
It may be a space in which environmental sound exists, and may be an open space, a closed space, or indoors or outdoors.

Although one speaker 18 is used in the above embodiment, a plurality of speakers 18 may be used depending on the situation of the sound space.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Various changes can be made as necessary.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the sound environment control method and apparatus of the present invention are configured and operate. Therefore, even when the state of the environment sound in the sound space changes, the harsh component sound contained in the environment sound is reduced. Masking so that
Moreover, it is possible to effectively relieve the physiological or psychological tension of the person.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the sound environment control method and apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a characteristic diagram for explaining fluctuation noise used in the principle of the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention. , FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are curve diagrams for explaining the operation of the ambient sound detector, the modulator and the easily audible component sound superimposing device, respectively. 1 ... Environmental sound detector, 2 ... Modulator, 3 ... Easy audible component sound superimposing device, 4 ... Superimposed sound output device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An artificial masking method for masking an environmental sound in which the envelope of the sound intensity changes substantially equally in time according to the temporal change of the envelope of the sound intensity of the environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space. sound,
A specific easily audible component sound is superimposed, and the superimposed sound is output into the sound space with substantially the same sound intensity as the environmental sound, and the harsh sound in the environmental sound is reduced by the artificial sound. And a fluctuation is generated, and at the same time, the tension generated by the environmental sound is relaxed by a synergistic effect of superimposing the easily audible component sound at the same time. 2. An environmental sound detector for detecting, as an environmental sound intensity signal wave, a temporal change in the envelope of the sound intensity of an environmental sound existing in a predetermined sound space, and a predetermined value for the environmental sound intensity signal wave. A modulator that forms an artificial sound in which the envelope of the sound intensity changes according to the environmental sound intensity signal wave by modulating the carrier sound signal of the frequency of, and the artificial sound emitted from this modulator is specified. An easy audible component sound superimposing device for superimposing an easy audible component sound, and a superposed sound output for outputting a superposed sound emitted from the easy audible component sound superposing device into the sound space with substantially the same sound intensity as the environmental sound. Environment control device having a container.