Gaze Steered Microphone Array for Understanding Speech in Noisy Areas

描述(由申请人提供)：高级医疗电子公司(AME)提出了一种无线助听器配件，它利用智能手机的前置摄像头对助听器用户眼睛的凝视跟踪，通过信号处理电子控制麦克风阵列。其目的是提高噪声环境下的语音清晰度。助听器使用者的一个常见问题是在嘈杂的环境中参与对话，例如在工作场所或餐馆。虽然助听器可以在某些类型的噪音中提高语音的清晰度，但很难区分多个说话者，其中一些人可能是“噪音”，另一些人不是。最好的两种解决方案包括将麦克风移动到更靠近信号源的位置，或者使用麦克风阵列进行波束成形。虽然配对麦克风已经被证明是有效的，但它们也有限制其使用的缺点。配对麦克风需要演讲者的积极参与才能使用麦克风。在很多情况下，这是不切实际的，或者在社交上令人尴尬。也有麦克风阵列解决方案，但在将阵列转向或指向感兴趣的来源以及使阵列不显眼方面存在挑战。提出了一种创新的解决方案，使用麦克风阵列来解决繁琐和迟钝的问题，特别是在许多人快速移动的对话中。智能手机上的前置摄像头(与屏幕一起的一侧)将被用来检测助听器用户眼睛的凝视方向。麦克风阵列连接在智能手机的背面，将通过信号处理电子控制，从用户观看的方向收集声音。然后，处理后的音频通过数字无线链路直接传输到助听器。用户只需按住 对于使用智能手机的人来说，这款智能手机是一种天然的庄园，可以查看他们想要听的群体中的人。为了在第一阶段证明这一解决方案的可行性，AME将建立一个原型系统，并将在听力受损的人身上测试原型

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Advanced Medical Electronics (AME) proposes a wireless hearing aid accessory that utilizes gaze tracking of the hearing aid user's eyes by a smartphone's front facing camera to electronically steer a microphone array with signal processing. The objective is to improve speech intelligibility in noisy environments. A common problem of hearing aid users is participating in conversations in a noisy environment such as at a workplace or restaurant. While hearing aids can improve speech intelligibility in certain types of noise, it is difficult to distinguish between multiple talkers where some might be "noise" and others are not. Two of the best solutions include moving the microphone closer to the source or using beamforming with microphone arrays. While companion microphones have been shown to be effective they have drawbacks that have limited their use. Companion microphones require an active involvement of the speakers to use microphones. There are many situations where this is impractical or socially awkward. There are also microphone array solutions but there are challenges with steering or pointing the array to the source of interest as well as making the array unobtrusive. Proposed is an innovative solution for using a microphone array that solves the issues of being cumbersome and slow to point, especially in a fast moving conversation of many people. The front facing camera (the side with the screen) on the smartphone will be utilized to detect the gaze direction of the hearing aid user's eyes. The microphone array, attached to the back of a smartphone, will be electronically steered with signal processing to collect sound from the direction the user is looking. The processed audio is then transmitted directly to the hearing aid via a digital wireless link. The user will simply hold the smartphone in a natural manor for someone using a smartphone and look at the person in a group they want to listen to. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this solution in Phase I, AME will build a prototype system and the will test the prototype with hearing impaired individuals