Assessment and adjustment of audio installation

• US 10,446,166 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dickins, Glenn N., Holmberg, Paul, Shi, Dong
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Yogeshkumar
• Application Number:
  US15/648,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20180018984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 825 Days
• Field of Search: 381 56
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02082 the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02163 Only one microphone
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0232 Processing in the frequency domain
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0364 for improving intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/48 specially adapted for particular use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/00 Monitoring arrangements; Testing arrangements for hearing aids H04R25/30; detection of loudspeaker connection H04R5/04; sound-field adaptation dependent on speaker detection H04S7/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/305 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic audio signals to reverberation of the listening space H04S7/301 takes precedence

Abstract

Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to assessment and adjustment for an audio environment. A computer-implemented method is provided. The method includes obtaining a first audio signal captured by a device located in an environment. The method also includes analyzing a characteristic of the first audio signal to determine an acoustic performance metric for the environment. The method further includes, in response to the acoustic performance metric being below a threshold, providing a first task for a user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal. The first task is related to an adjustment to a setting of the environment. Embodiments in this regard further provide a corresponding computer program product. Corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining a first audio signal captured by a device located in an environment;

analyzing a characteristic of the first audio signal to determine an acoustic performance metric for the environment, wherein the acoustic performance metric is determined based at least in part on a measure of degradation of timbre in the captured first audio signal; and

in response to the acoustic performance metric being below a threshold, providing a first task for a user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal, the first task being related to an adjustment to a setting of the environment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

extracting a noise signal from the first audio signal;

and

playing back the extracted noise signal by a speaker.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first task is related to addition, adjustment or removal of physical objects within the environment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an acoustical or optical indication of the performance metric to the user, wherein the performance metric indicates whether the acoustic performance has improved or deteriorated.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first audio signal is captured by spatial microphones of the device, the method further comprising

determining a direction of a noise source based on the first audio signal;

and

providing a suggestion to the user based on the determined direction.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the acoustic performance metric being below the threshold, providing a fourth task for the user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal, the fourth task being related to the usage of a microphone external to the device or to the usage of a speaker external to the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the characteristic of the first audio signal comprises analyzing a rattle level of the first audio signal, the method further comprising:

in response to the acoustic performance metric being below the threshold, providing a fifth task for the user to perform based on the analyzed rattle level, the fifth task being related to checking or adjusting objects surrounding the device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising

prompting the first task to the user via an audio signal.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the acoustic performance metric being below the threshold, providing a second task for the user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal, the second task being related to an adjustment to a placement of the device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the first audio signal comprises:

providing an indication to guide the user to make sounds at a plurality of positions in the environment; and

collecting the sounds as the first audio signal.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the first audio signal comprises:

causing a first test signal to be generated by a loudspeaker of the device; and

collecting the first test signal by a microphone of the device as the first audio signal.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the characteristic of the first audio signal comprises analyzing at least one of the following:

a noise characteristic of the first audio signal indicating at least one of the following;

a noise level, noise stability, or a relative level of a background speech in the first audio signal;

an acoustic characteristic of the first audio signal indicating at least one of the following;

a timbre of the first audio signal, a reverberation time of the first audio signal, an echo level of the first audio signal, or a rattle level of the first audio signal;

or

a distance from a location of a sound source detected in the first audio signal to the device in the environment.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the device supports a spatial audio mode, and wherein analyzing the characteristic of the first audio signal comprises analyzing at least one of the following:

a range of angles of sound sources detected in the first audio signal in the environment;

or

a separation of sound sources detected in the first audio signal in a sound field.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing a second test signal to be generated by a loudspeaker of the device;

collecting the second test signal by a microphone of the device as a second audio signal; and

detecting a distortion in the second audio signal to determine a quality metric for the device,

wherein analyzing the characteristic of the first audio signal comprises;

in response to the quality metric of the device exceeding a threshold, analyzing the characteristic of the first audio signal.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

in response to the quality metric of the device being below the threshold, providing a third task for the user to modify a configuration of the device.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the first task for the user further comprises:

retrieving from a storage device the characteristic of a third audio signal captured by the device prior to the first audio signal; and

providing the first task for the user further based on the characteristic of the third audio signal.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to claim 1.

17. A computer-implemented system comprising:

an audio collector configured to obtain a first audio signal captured by a device located in an environment;

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform;

analyzing a characteristic of the first audio signal to determine an acoustic performance metric for the environment, wherein the acoustic performance metric is determined based at least in part on a measure of degradation of timbre in the captured first audio signal, and

determining, in response to the acoustic performance metric being below a threshold, a first task for a user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal, the first task being related to an adjustment to a setting of the environment.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform determining, in response to the acoustic performance metric being below the threshold, a second task for the user to perform based on the characteristic of the first audio signal, the second task being related to an adjustment to a placement of the device.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform determining an indication to guide the user to make sounds at a plurality of positions in the environment;

and

wherein the audio collector is configured to collect the sounds as the first audio signal.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform causing a first test signal to be generated by a loudspeaker of the device;

and

wherein the audio collector is configured to collect the first test signal by a microphone of the device as the first audio signal.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform analyzing at least one of the following:

a noise characteristic of the first audio signal indicating at least one of the following;

a noise level, noise stability, or a relative level of a background speech in the first audio signal;

an acoustic characteristic of the first audio signal indicating at least one of the following;

a timbre of the first audio signal, a reverberation time of the first audio signal, an echo level of the first audio signal, or a rattle level of the first audio signal;

or

a distance from a location of a sound source detected in the first audio signal to the device in the environment.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform causing a second test signal to be generated by a loudspeaker of the device, and the audio collector is configured to collect the second test signal by a microphone of the device as a second audio signal;

and

wherein the processing unit is further configured to;

detect a distortion in the second audio signal to determine a quality metric for the device, and

analyze, in response to the quality metric of the device exceeding a threshold, the characteristic of the first audio signal.