KR20210097567A - Communication support system and method for acquired deaf people - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication support system for acquired deaf people to enable the acquired deaf people to autonomously adjust voice according to a situation and surrounding noise, and a method thereof. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the communication support system comprises: a wearable device formed in a shape of a ring with a cut part to fit the neck of a deaf person and detecting voice of the deaf person and noise of a place where the deaf person is located; a server analyzing a decibel value of voice and noise measured through the wearable device in a time-series manner, and determining a standard value for determining the loudness of the voice compared to the noise; and a user terminal capable of operating an application for controlling operation of the wearable device and output of monitoring information generated through the server.

Description

COMMUNICATION SUPPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACQUIRED DEAF PEOPLE

The present invention relates to a communication assistance system and method for the acquired deaf person, and more particularly, to the deaf person by adjusting their own voice volume in accordance with the noise generated in the surrounding situation and place of the deaf person and at the same time to a dangerous situation It relates to a system and method to recognize and respond quickly.

About 2.5 million people, or 5% of the total population of the Republic of Korea, are disabled, and among them, the number of hearing impaired is 300,000, which is the second largest number. The causes of deafness can be divided into congenital factors and acquired factors, and there is a difference in that hearing impaired people due to acquired factors can communicate through voice with those who are deaf due to congenital factors.

Due to the above-mentioned differences, acquired deaf people have a fatal problem in that although they can communicate their intentions to others through their voices in their daily life, they cannot control the volume of their voices. In other words, despite being able to communicate in a small voice in public places such as cafes, the acquired deaf person cannot hear their own voice and ambient noise and cannot control the volume of their voice, so it is difficult to communicate in public places. suffer

Although hearing aids for the deaf are being developed, it is not easy for the acquired hearing impaired to adjust their voice according to the situation even if they wear a hearing aid because they cannot accurately reflect the ambient noise and the loudness of their voice. In addition, in general, when a dangerous situation occurs, a dangerous situation is recognized through a sound in the vicinity. However, in the case of the hearing impaired, it is difficult to recognize through sound, so there is a problem that there is no choice but to be exposed to the dangerous situation as it is.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0083682 (2018.07.23)

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and through a vibration alarm, the acquired deaf person can adjust his or her voice according to the noise generated in the situation and place, and it is possible to recognize through sound in a dangerous situation An object of the present invention is to provide a communication assistance system and method for

The communication assistance system for the acquired hearing impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention is manufactured in a ring shape in which a part is cut to be in close contact with the neck of the hearing impaired, so that the voice of the hearing impaired and the place where the hearing impaired are located A wearable device that detects noise, a server that time-series analyzes the decibel value of voice and noise measured through the wearable device, and a server that determines the reference value for judging the loudness of the voice versus the noise. It may include a user terminal capable of driving an application for outputting the generated monitoring information.

A wearable device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a decibel value measured by an acoustic sensor for measuring decibel values of voice and noise, a vibration module for outputting an alarm so that a deaf person can monitor their own voice, and a sound sensor It may include a control module for controlling the operation of the vibration module according to the size of the voice compared to the noise based on the.

The acoustic sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first acoustic sensor disposed at both front ends of the wearable device and a second acoustic sensor disposed at a rear center of the wearable device.

The control module according to an embodiment of the present invention may determine whether to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module by determining whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more.

The control module according to an embodiment of the present invention determines whether the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor is 55.5 dB or more when the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more, , it is possible to determine whether to operate the vibration module by estimating the difference between the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor based on the result of the determination.

The control module according to an embodiment of the present invention may operate the vibration module when the decibel value of the voice or noise measured by the first acoustic sensor and the second acoustic sensor is 100 dB or more.

The communication assistance method for the acquired hearing impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention is to measure the decibel values of the voice and noise of the deaf person through the first acoustic sensor and the second acoustic sensor of the wearable device worn by the hearing impaired person Step, the control module of the wearable device determining whether to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module of the wearable device based on the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and when the analysis starts, the control module It may include determining whether to operate the vibration module based on the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor.

In the step of determining whether to start the analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control module determines whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more, analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module can decide whether to start.

In the step of determining whether to operate the vibration module according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more, the control module determines the decibel of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor It is determined whether the value is 55.5 dB or more, and based on the result of the judgment, the difference between the decibel value of the voice measured by the first sound sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second sound sensor is estimated to determine the value of the vibration module. You can decide whether to operate or not.

In the step of determining whether to start the analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the decibel value of the voice or noise measured by the first acoustic sensor and the second acoustic sensor is 100 dB or more, the control module operates the vibration module. can

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the above-described method is recorded in a computer.

According to the system and method provided as an embodiment of the present invention, the acquired deaf themselves can recognize and adjust the loudness of the voice compared to the noise generated in the surroundings through vibration, and even if a dangerous situation occurs, Based on the sound, it can quickly recognize and act to minimize the occurrence of damage.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication assistance system for the acquired hearing impairment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front perspective view showing a wearable device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing process of a control module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a graph showing the performance verification result of the Arduino decibel measurement module.
5 is a table summarizing the results of experiments on the amount of decrease in voice volume according to distance.
6 is a graph showing noise statistics in a cafe, which is a relatively quiet space, and a restaurant, which is a noisy space.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a communication assistance method for acquired deaf people according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Terms used in this specification will be briefly described, and the present invention will be described in detail.

The terms used in the present invention have been selected as currently widely used general terms as possible while considering the functions in the present invention, but these may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a person skilled in the art, the emergence of new technology, and the like. In addition, in a specific case, there is a term arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding invention. Therefore, the term used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the overall content of the present invention, rather than the name of a simple term.

In the entire specification, when a part "includes" a certain component, it means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless otherwise stated. In addition, terms such as "...unit" and "module" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or a combination of hardware and software.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art can easily carry out the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. And in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication assistance system for the acquired hearing impairment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the communication assistance system for the acquired hearing impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention is manufactured in a ring shape in which a part is cut to be in close contact along the neck of the hearing impaired, so that the voice of the hearing impaired and The wearable device 100 that detects the noise of the place where the deaf person is located, and the decibel value of the voice and noise measured through the wearable device 100 are time-series analyzed, and the reference value for determining the loudness of the voice compared to the noise is determined and a user terminal 300 capable of driving an application for controlling the operation of the server 200 and the wearable device 100 and outputting monitoring information generated through the server 200 .

The wearable device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is worn on the neck of a deaf person and serves to notify the occurrence of a situation in which the voice becomes louder compared to the surrounding noise and the occurrence of a dangerous situation. That is, the wearable device 100 provides an alarm through vibration to the hearing impaired based on the detection result of the hearing impaired's voice and ambient noise, thereby allowing the hearing impaired to control their voice or to recognize a dangerous situation. do. For example, the wearable device 100 includes an acoustic sensor 110 for measuring decibel values of voice and noise inside a partly cut annular body, and vibration for outputting an alarm so that the hearing impaired can monitor their own voice. Module 120, the control module 130, the server 200 and the user terminal ( The communication module 140 for transmitting and receiving information through interworking with 300 may be provided.

The server 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention accumulatively manages information on decibel values of voice and noise collected through the wearable device 100, and based on this, a reference value suitable for a variable such as a measurement point and environment. Statistical analysis for the setting is performed. For example, the server 200 may calculate an accumulated value of decibel values of voices and noises arranged in time series to calculate an overall average value in real time. At this time, when a fairly large decibel value is transmitted through the wearable device 100 for a predetermined time based on the overall average value in relation to noise, the server 200 views the situation as a new variable value, and the above-mentioned decibel value is In reflection, the reference value determined by the control module 130 of the wearable device 100 may be newly determined. Through this process, we can get out of the constraints of variables depending on the measurement point and environment, and we can gradually solve the variables suitable for other situations.

The user terminal 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention receives and outputs information related to operation control of the wearable device 100 through the communication module 140 , or monitors monitoring information managed through the server 200 . It plays the role of output and visualization. Here, the user terminal 300 is a portable terminal capable of wired/wireless network communication, and refers to a smart phone, a smart watch, a tablet PC, a laptop PC, and the like. That is, when the application is run in the user terminal 300, the deaf user can easily check the visualized monitoring information, and the deaf themselves can change the reference value set by the server 200 with the help of the surroundings.

2 is a front perspective view showing the wearable device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The acoustic sensor 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first acoustic sensor 111 disposed at both front ends of the wearable device 100 and a second acoustic sensor disposed at the rear center of the wearable device 100 ( 112) may be included. Both the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 may measure decibel values of the voice and noise of the deaf person, but in terms of location, the first acoustic sensor 111 is the wearer's voice and the second acoustic sensor. (112) is easy to measure the ambient noise. Accordingly, the control module 130 determines that the decibel value measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is a decibel value for voice, and the decibel value measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is a decibel value for ambient noise. It is designed to perform analysis for control of the vibration module 120 by weighting.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing process of a control module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the control module 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is 70 dB or more to operate the vibration module 120 . It is possible to decide whether to start the analysis to control the For example, when the voice decibel value measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is less than 70 dB, the control module 130 performs the above-described determination again without starting the analysis. When the voice decibel value measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is 70 dB or more, the control module 130 starts an analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module 120 .

In the control module 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is 70 dB or more, the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is It is determined whether it is 55.5 dB or more, and the difference between the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is estimated based on the result of the judgment Thus, it is possible to determine whether the vibration module 120 operates. To determine whether the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is 55.5 dB or more, the loudness of the voice must be changed according to the surrounding noise, so whether the place where the hearing impaired is located is a relatively quiet space or a noisy space in order to distinguish That is, the reference value of 55.5 dB is a reference value set to distinguish places.

For example, when the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is 55.5 dB or more, the control module 130 sets the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second sound. It is determined whether the difference between the decibel values of the noise measured by the sensor 112 is 30 dB or more. When the difference is 30 dB or more, the control module 130 immediately operates the vibration module 120 , and when the difference is less than 30 dB, the control module 130 does not operate the vibration module 120 and maintains the current state.

When the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is less than 55.5 dB, the control module 130 controls the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 . It is judged whether the difference in decibel values of noise measured by When the difference is 20 dB or more, the control module 130 immediately operates the vibration module 120 , and when the difference is less than 20 dB, the control module 130 does not operate the vibration module 120 and maintains the current state.

The control module 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention operates the vibration module 120 when the decibel values of the voice and noise measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 are 100 dB or more. can make it work This is to determine whether the volume of the voice is too loud or exposed to a dangerous situation regardless of the noise and to provide vibration. may continue to be performed.

Hereinafter, how the reference values used in the determination process of the aforementioned control module 130 are calculated will be described in more detail.

4 is a graph showing the performance verification result of the Arduino decibel measurement module.

Referring to FIG. 4 , it can be seen that when the Arduino decibel measurement module is used as the acoustic sensor 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a linear correlation is shown compared to the existing decibel meter. Specifically, the measured values by the Arduino decibel measurement module and the existing decibel meter show a linear relationship with a slope of 0.9649, which shows an error of about 4% based on 1 day, so even if the Arduino decibel measurement module is used It can be seen that high reliability of the measured value itself can be secured. Therefore, in consideration of the portability of the wearable device 100 , an Arduino decibel measurement module having a high correlation with an existing decibel meter may be used as the acoustic sensor 110 .

5 is a table summarizing the results of experiments on the amount of decrease in voice volume according to distance.

In general, based on the principle that the size of a sound decreases as the distance increases, FIG. 5 shows the result of calculating the distance at which the level of the wearer's voice is reduced to 75 dB with respect to the first acoustic sensor 111 . At this time, the calculation formula used for the calculation is as follows [Equation 1].

[Equation 1]

Here, S ₂ is a fixed value of 75 dB, S ₁ is the sound level at a distance of D ₁ from the sound _{source, D 1} is the distance S1 is measured from _{the sound source, and D 2 is S 2} measured from the sound source. means the distance

Referring to FIG. 5 , it can be seen that the voice level of 80 dB to 90 dB is maintained at a distance where a normal conversation takes place, and when the voice becomes louder, the volume of the voice may increase to 90 dB level, but at a distance of 1.5 meters or more It can be seen that it is reduced to a level of 75 dB. That is, it can be seen that, when it is higher than 75 dB, which is a standard decibel value for which a stable conversation is possible, stable conversation can be performed without damage to the surroundings at a distance where a normal conversation takes place.

6 is a graph showing noise statistics in a cafe, which is a relatively quiet space, and a restaurant, which is a noisy space.

In order to determine the criteria for ambient noise, both the variables of the place and the variables of the sound itself must be considered. Since it is physically difficult to consider all variables, the variables for a place are divided into three categories: a noisy space, a quiet space, and a dangerous situation. An experiment was carried out for

The representative space as a relatively quiet space was selected as a cafe, and the representative space as a noisy space was selected as a restaurant, and the volume was measured at a specific location according to the noise measurement standard. Referring to (a) of FIG. 6 , it can be seen that the restaurant exhibits an average noise level of 75 dB within a range of a maximum of 101.6 dB and a minimum of 50.8 dB. Referring to (b) of FIG. 6 , it can be seen that cafes and restaurants have a maximum average noise level of 55.5 dB within a range of 94.2 dB maximum and 40.8 dB minimum. Based on these statistical results, the criteria for the ambient noise for voice control described above were set by dividing them into a relatively quiet space and a noisy space through FIG. 3 .

Although not shown, the sound volume was measured at a specific location according to the noise measurement standard by setting a dangerous situation requiring sound recognition as a car clock sounding situation. In particular, it is assumed that the clasp sounds from the rear of the wearer, and the noise levels measured in the front and rear of the wearable device 100 in which the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 are located are all 100 dB or more. did. Therefore, the reference of the ambient noise for recognizing the above-described dangerous situation through FIG. 3 was set to 100 dB.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a communication assistance method for the acquired hearing impairment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , in the communication assistance method for the acquired hearing impairment according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 of the wearable device 100 worn by the hearing impaired person ) measuring the decibel value of the voice and noise of the deaf person through (S100), the control module 130 of the wearable device 100 based on the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 Determining whether to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module 120 of the wearable device 100 (S200) and when the analysis starts, the control module 130 is measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 It may include a step (S300) of determining whether to operate the vibration module 120 based on the decibel value of the voice and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 (S300).

In the step (S200) of determining whether to start the analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control module 130 determines whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is 70 dB or more. It may be determined whether to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module 120 .

In the step (S300) of determining whether to operate the vibration module 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 is 70 dB or more, the control module 130 It is determined whether the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor 112 is 55.5 dB or more, and the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor 111 based on the result of the determination and the second It is possible to determine whether the vibration module 120 operates by estimating a difference in decibel values of noise measured by the acoustic sensor 112 .

On the other hand, in the step (S200) of determining whether to start the analysis according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first acoustic sensor 111 and the second acoustic sensor 112 measure the measured value regardless of the decibel value of the noise. When the decibel value of the voice is 100 dB or more, the control module 130 may operate the vibration module 120 .

Regarding the method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the contents of the above-described system may be applied. Accordingly, in relation to the method, descriptions of the same contents as those of the above-described system are omitted.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the above-described method is recorded in a computer. In other words, the above-described method can be written as a program that can be executed on a computer, and can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer that operates the program using a computer-readable medium. In addition, the structure of the data used in the above-described method may be recorded in a computer-readable medium through various means. A recording medium for recording an executable computer program or code for performing various methods of the present invention should not be construed as including temporary objects such as carrier waves or signals. The computer-readable medium may include a storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium (eg, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.) and an optically readable medium (eg, a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc.).

The description of the present invention described above is for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that it can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and likewise components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. .

100: wearable device 110: acoustic sensor
111: first acoustic sensor 112: second acoustic sensor
120: vibration module 130: control module
140: communication module 200: server
300: user terminal

Claims (10)

In the communication assistance system for acquired hearing impaired,
A wearable device manufactured in a ring shape in which a part is cut to be in close contact with the neck of the deaf person and detects the voice of the deaf person and the noise of the place where the deaf person is located;
a server for time-series analysis of decibel values of voice and noise measured through the wearable device, and determining a reference value for judging the size of the voice compared to the noise; and
and a user terminal capable of driving an application for controlling the operation of the wearable device and outputting monitoring information generated through the server.
The method of claim 1,
The wearable device,
an acoustic sensor for measuring decibel values of the voice and noise;
a vibration module for outputting an alarm so that the deaf person can monitor his/her own voice; and
and a control module for controlling the operation of the vibration module according to the volume of the voice compared to the noise based on the decibel value measured by the acoustic sensor.
3. The method of claim 2,
The sound sensor is
A system comprising: a first acoustic sensor disposed at both front ends of the wearable device; and a second acoustic sensor disposed at a rear center of the wearable device.
4. The method of claim 3,
The control module is
The system, characterized in that it determines whether or not to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module by determining whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more.
5. The method of claim 4,
The control module is
When the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more, it is determined whether the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor is 55.5 dB or more, and based on the result of the determination, the second A system, characterized in that it determines whether the vibration module operates by estimating a difference between the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor.
6. The method of claim 5,
The control module is
When the decibel value of the voice or noise measured by the first and second acoustic sensors is 100 dB or more, the vibration module is operated.
In the communication assistance method for acquired hearing impaired,
measuring decibel values of the hearing impaired person's voice and noise through a first acoustic sensor and a second acoustic sensor of a wearable device worn by the hearing impaired;
determining, by the control module of the wearable device, whether to start an analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module of the wearable device based on the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor; and
determining, by the control module, whether to operate the vibration module, based on the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor when the analysis is started How to include.
8. The method of claim 7,
In the step of determining whether to start the analysis,
Method, characterized in that the control module determines whether or not to start the analysis for controlling the operation of the vibration module by determining whether the decibel value of the voice measured by the first sound sensor is 70 dB or more.
9. The method of claim 8,
In the step of determining whether the vibration module operates,
When the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor is 70 dB or more, the control module determines whether the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor is 55.5 dB or more, and the result of the determination Method, characterized in that determining whether to operate the vibration module by estimating a difference between the decibel value of the voice measured by the first acoustic sensor and the decibel value of the noise measured by the second acoustic sensor based on the first acoustic sensor.
10. The method of claim 9,
In the step of determining whether to start the analysis,
When the decibel value of the voice or noise measured by the first acoustic sensor and the second acoustic sensor is 100 dB or more, the control module operates the vibration module.

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