Gaze Steered Microphone Array for Understanding Speech in Noisy Areas

用于理解噪声区域语音的凝视控制麦克风阵列

• 批准号: 8522901
• 负责人: GARY D HAVEY
• 金额: $ 21.92万
• 依托单位: ADVANCED MEDICAL ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-05-01 至 2015-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8522901
• 关键词: Adult; American; Area; Back; Companions; Computer software; Consult; Development; Devices; Digital Signal Processing; Doctor of Philosophy; Electronics; Engineering; Ensure; Environment; Eye; Face; Health; Hearing; Hearing Aids; Human; Hybrids; Individual; Industry; Language; Link; Manufacturer Name; Mechanics; Medical Electronics; Minnesota; Modality; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; Noise; Persons; Phase; Plastics; Positioning Attribute; Principal Investigator; Process; Recording of previous events; Reporting; Research Personnel; Restaurants; Robot; Science; Side; Simulate; Solutions; Source; Speech; Speech Intelligibility; System; Technology; Telephone; Testing; Training; Universities; Wireless Technology; Workplace; Writing; base; commercialization; computerized data processing; design; digital; experience; gaze; hearing impairment; improved; innovation; interest; professor; programs; prototype; satisfaction; sound

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

描述（由申请人提供）：高级医疗电子（AME）提出了一个无线助听器配件，该配件通过智能手机的前置摄像头利用助听器用户眼睛的目光跟踪，以电子方式引导带有信号处理的麦克风阵列。目的是提高嘈杂环境中的语音清晰度。助听器用户的一个常见问题是在嘈杂的环境中参加对话，例如在工作场所或餐厅。虽然助听器可以提高某些类型的噪声的语音清晰度，但很难区分多个说话者，而有些则可能是“噪声”，而另一些则不是“噪声”。最佳解决方案之一包括将麦克风移至靠近源或使用麦克风阵列的光束形成。尽管已证明伴随麦克风有效，但它们的缺点限制了使用。伴随麦克风需要主动参与使用麦克风。在许多情况下，这是不切实际的或社会尴尬的。也有麦克风阵列解决方案，但是将阵列转向或将阵列指向感兴趣的来源以及使阵列不引人注目的挑战。提出的是一种创新的解决方案，用于使用麦克风阵列，该阵列解决了麻烦和慢的指向问题，尤其是在许多人的快速交谈中。智能手机上的前置摄像头（带屏幕的侧面）将用于检测助听器用户眼睛的凝视方向。麦克风阵列连接到智能手机背面，将通过信号处理进行电子操纵，以从用户所寻找的方向收集声音。然后，通过数字无线链接将处理后的音频直接传输到助听器。用户只需保持 天然庄园中使用智能手机的智能手机，看一下他们想听的小组中的人。为了在第一阶段证明该解决方案的可行性，AME将建立一个原型系统，并将通过听力受损的个体测试原型