JPH11355897A - Sound image localizing headphone device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headphone device which has light and simple constitution and with which the front/back of sound image localization are easily discriminated by installing vibration devices vibrating the front face of the head part of a user and vibration devices vibrating the rear heat part of the user. SOLUTION: A headphone 1 supports face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 and rear head surface vibration devices 4 and 5. Sound localized in the front is reproduced by simultaneously operating the headphone 1 and the face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 at the time of localizing a sound image by a sound image localizing headphone device. The face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 reproduce vibration from the front of the ears of a user, vibrate the surface of the face and the sound image is perceived by the front. At localizing of sound image by the sound image localizing headphone device, sound localized at the back is reproduced by having the headphone 1 and the rear head surface vibration devices 4 and 5 operate simultaneously. The rear head surface vibrating devices 4 and 5 reproduce vibration from the back of the user's ears, vibrate the surface of the rear head part, and the sound image is perceived by the back.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a headphone device for reproducing stereophonic sound.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
1 shows a conventional sound image localization headphone device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209,878. In FIG. 4, 15 is a headphone frame, 1
Reference numerals 6 and 17 denote front-located speakers attached to the headphone frame 15, and reference numerals 18 and 19 denote the headphone frame 1.
5 is a speaker for rear localization attached to the speaker 5.

[0003] A headphone frame 15 supports a plurality of speakers. The front speakers 16 and 17 are attached to the front of the headphone frame 15 and reproduce sound from the front of the user's ear. The rear speakers 18 and 19 are attached to the rear of the headphone frame 15, and reproduce sound from behind the user's ear.

The above-described conventional sound image localization headphone device employs a method of performing sound image localization by attaching a plurality of small speakers having dedicated functions such as for front localization and rear localization to headphones.

Next, the operation of the conventional sound image localization headphone device will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of sound image localization by the sound image localization headphone device, reproduction of sound localized in the front is
This is performed by the speakers 16 and 17 for localization in front. The front speakers 16 and 17 reproduce sound from the front of the user's ear, and localize the sound image.

[0006] Next, at the time of sound image localization by the sound image localization headphone device, the reproduction of the sound localized to the rear is performed by the rear localization speakers 18 and 19. The rear-position speakers 18 and 19 reproduce sound from behind the user's ear,
Localize the sound image backward.

[0007]

Since the conventional sound image localization headphone device is configured as described above, it is necessary to drive many speakers, and there is a problem that the device becomes heavy and large. Was. Further, there is an inconvenience that it is difficult to distinguish between the front and the rear in the localization of the sound image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sound image localization headphone device having a light and simple structure and capable of easily distinguishing front and rear of sound image localization. Aim.

[0009]

A sound image localization headphone device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a stereo headphone device,
Equipped with a vibration device that vibrates the front of the user's head and a vibration device that vibrates the back of the user's head, and when the sound image is localized forward, the front of the user's head vibrates simultaneously with the reproduction of the sound by the headphones. Thus, when the user is provided with a sense of front localization and the sound image is localized rearward, the back of the user's head is vibrated simultaneously with the reproduction of the sound by the headphones to give the user a sense of rearward localization.

A sound image localization headphone device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the sound image localization headphone device according to the first aspect, wherein vibrations of the head surface with respect to sound waves generated from various positions are measured and obtained from the measurement. The vibration is reproduced by a vibration device by a vibration transfer function representing the relationship between the position of the sound source and the vibration.

A sound image localization headphone device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the sound image localization headphone device according to the second aspect, wherein a vibration transfer function relating to head surface vibration is automatically generated from an impulse response transfer function of a sound wave. is there.

A sound image localization headphone device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes a stereo headphone device including a heating device for warming the front surface of the user's head and a heating device for heating the back of the user's head, and localizes the sound image forward. At the same time, the front of the user's head is warmed at the same time as the sound is reproduced by the headphones, giving the user a sense of frontal localization. To give the user a feeling of rearward orientation.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a sound image localization headphone device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a sound image localization headphone device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG.
Wherein 1 is a headphone, 2 and 3 are face surface vibrators,
Reference numerals 4 and 5 denote occipital surface vibration devices.

The sound image localization headphone device according to the first embodiment employs a system in which a front surface localization / rear localization of sound is perceived by a face surface vibration device and an occipital surface vibration device.

A sound image localization headphone according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Headphones 1 include face surface vibrators 2 and 3 and occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5.
I support. The face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 are attached to the front of the headphones 1 and transmit vibration to the user's face. The occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5 are attached to the rear of the headphones 1 and transmit vibration to the occipital surface of the user.

At the time of sound image localization by the sound image localization headphone device, reproduction of a sound localized frontward is performed by operating the face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 simultaneously with the headphone 1. The face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 reproduce the vibration from the front of the user's ear to vibrate the face of the face, and perceive the sound image to the front.

Next, at the time of sound image localization by the sound image localization headphone device, reproduction of the sound localized rearward is performed by operating the occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5 simultaneously with the headphone 1. The occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5 reproduce the vibration from the back of the user's ear to vibrate the surface of the occiput, thereby causing the sound image to be perceived backward.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a sound image localization procedure of the sound image localization headphone device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, reference numerals S1 to S7 represent procedures (steps).

In step S1 of FIG. 2, the sound image localization procedure of the sound image localization headphone device according to the first embodiment is started. In step S2, a sound source is localized in a sound image at a certain position in a three-dimensional sound space by headphones, for example, by a sound convolution process using a head-related transfer function.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the sound source position is ahead in step S2, and the progress of the process is distributed. That is, in step S2, if the sound source position is ahead, the process proceeds to step S4. Otherwise, the process skips step S4 and proceeds to step S5.

In step S4, the face surface vibration devices 2, 3 described with reference to FIG. 1 are operated. Face surface vibration device 2,
Numeral 3 reproduces the vibration from the front of the user's ear, vibrates the face of the face, and perceives the sound image to the front.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the sound source position is backward in step S2, and the progress of the process is distributed. That is, in step S2, if the sound source position is behind, the process proceeds to step S6; otherwise, the process skips step S6 and proceeds to step S7.

In step S6, the occipital surface vibration devices 4, 5 described with reference to FIG. 1 are operated. The occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5 reproduce the vibration from the back of the user's ear to vibrate the surface of the occiput, thereby causing the sound image to be perceived backward.

In step S7, the sound image localization procedure of the sound image localization headphone device according to this embodiment ends.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 3 shows a sound image localization headphone device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 3, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. A method of creating a transfer function relating to head surface vibration in the sound image localization headphone device according to the second embodiment and reproducing the vibration based on the transfer function with the vibration device will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of reproducing a vibrating device by vibration using a vibration transfer function in a sound image localization headphone according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, 6 is a dummy head, 7 and 8 are microphones attached to ears of the dummy head 6, 9 is a front surface vibration measuring instrument attached to the front head of the dummy head 6, and 10 is a dummy head. 6, a rear surface vibration measuring instrument attached to the back of the head, 11 is an impulse response measuring means, 12 is a front / rear surface vibration measuring means, 13
Is a speaker, and 14 is an impulse generator.

[0028] The impulse response is a transfer function from the time when a certain sound is generated at a certain place until the sound synthesized from the direct sound or the reflected sound from the sound source reaches a certain measurement point. is there.

First, the speaker 13 is arranged at a certain position with respect to the dummy head 6. The impulse generated by the impulse generator 14 is reproduced from the speaker 13.
The impulse is measured by the microphones 7 and 8 attached to the ears of the dummy head 6 with various differences such as sound reflection, phase difference, and arrival time.
Gives the transfer function.

Simultaneously with the measurement by the microphones 7 and 8, the vibration of the front surface of the dummy head 6 is measured by the front surface vibration measuring device 9 attached to the front head of the dummy head 6. At the same time, the rear head vibration measuring device 10 attached to the back of the dummy head 6
Measure the vibration on the rear surface of the. Measurements by the front surface vibration measuring device 9 and the rear surface vibration measuring device 10 are processed by the front / rear surface vibration measuring means 12, and a vibration transfer function relating to head surface vibration is obtained.

Next, the same measurement is performed by changing the position of the speaker 13. This process is repeated to obtain as many transfer functions as possible of impulse response measurement results and vibration transfer functions of front / rear surface vibration measurement results, and record data corresponding to positions. Reproduction of the vibration by the vibration transfer function by the surface vibration device of FIG. 1 enables more realistic sound image localization.

Further, a vibration transfer function relating to head surface vibration may be automatically generated from a transfer function of an impulse response for sound image localization.

Embodiment 3 Further, the vibration device according to the first embodiment may be realized by a small heat generating device similarly arranged before and after the head. That is, by providing a face surface heating device in place of the face surface vibration devices 2 and 3 in FIG. 1 and by providing an occipital surface heating device in place of the occipital surface vibration devices 4 and 5, clear sound localization in sound image localization. It is possible to add a feeling of feeling and a feeling of rearward orientation.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the vibration device for vibrating the front surface of the user's head and the vibration device for vibrating the back of the user's head are clearly provided in sound image localization. It is possible to add a sense of front localization and a sense of rearward localization.

Further, according to the present invention, by reproducing the vibration of the head surface vibration by the vibration transfer function using the vibration device, a more realistic sound image localization can be achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, a realistic sound image localization can be easily performed by automatically generating a vibration transfer function relating to head surface vibration from an impulse response transfer function of a sound wave.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, a heating device for warming the front surface of the user's head and a heating device for heating the back of the user's head are provided, so that the sound image localization can provide a clear sense of frontal and localization. Can be added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a sound image localization headphone device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a sound image localization procedure of the sound image localization headphone device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of reproducing a vibration by a vibration transfer function of a sound image localization headphone device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the conventional sound image localization headphone device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-336599.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Headphone, 2 face surface vibration device, 3 face surface vibration device, 4 occipital surface vibration device, 5 occipital surface vibration device, 6 dummy head, 7 microphone, 8 microphone, 9
Front surface vibration measuring instrument, 10 Rear surface vibration measuring instrument, 11
Impulse response measuring means, 12 front / rear surface vibration measuring means, 13 speaker, 14 impulse generator.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A stereo headphone device comprising: a vibrating device for vibrating a front surface of a user's head; and a vibrating device for vibrating a back of a user's head. At the same time, the front of the user's head is vibrated to give the user a sense of frontal localization. A sound image localization headphone device which gives a sense of rearward localization. 2. The sound image localization headphone device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration of the head surface with respect to sound waves generated from various positions is measured, and the vibration transmission indicating the relationship between the position of the sound source obtained from the measurement and the vibration. A sound image localization headphone device characterized in that a vibration caused by a function is reproduced by a vibration device. 3. The sound image localization headphone device according to claim 2, wherein a vibration transfer function relating to head surface vibration is automatically generated from an impulse response transfer function of a sound wave. 4. A stereo headphone device comprising: a heating device for warming the front of the user's head; and a heating device for heating the back of the user's head, which is used simultaneously with sound reproduction by the headphones when localizing a sound image forward. Warm the front of the user's head to give the user a sense of front localization, and when localizing the sound image, warm the back of the user's head at the same time as the sound is played back through the headphones, thereby giving the user a sense of back localization. A sound image localization headphone device.