System and method for microphone gain adjust based on speaker orientation

• US 7,130,705 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2001
• Issued: 10/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Amir, Arnon, Ashour, Gal
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Vivan
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHAU, COREY P
• Application Number:
  US09/757,012
• Publication Number:
  US 20020090094A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,122 Days
• Field of Search: 381/92, 381/122, 381/91, 381/111, 381/113, 381104-109, 381309-310, 700/94, 348/206.16, 348/231.4, 396/99, 396/105, 379/202.01, 379/388.03
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/004 for microphones H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/00 Circuits for transducers , loudspeakers or microphones

Abstract

A system and method for automatically adjusting the gain of an audio system as a speaker'"'"'s head moves relative to a microphone includes using a video of the speaker to determine an orientation of the speaker'"'"'s head relative to the microphone and, hence, a gain adjust signal. The gain adjust signal is then applied to the audio system that is associated with the microphone to dynamically and continuously adjust the gain the audio system.

Claims

1. A digital processor programmed to undertake logic for dynamically establishing a gain of an audio system, the logic being stored on a computer readable medium and executable by the digital processor to implement a method including:

receiving a video stream representative of at least one person and at least one microphone;

deriving person-microphone position signals using the video stream;

using at least some of the person-microphone position signals, generating audio gain adjust signals for input thereof to the audio system;

recording at least one calibration person-microohone position signal;

recording at least one calibration audio level contemporaneously with the calibratiotperson-microphone position signal;

using the calibration signal and calibration level, generating at least one mapping correlating head orientations to respective gain adjust percentages; and

at least in part using the gain adjust percentages, establishing an audio gain of the audio system.

2. The digital processor of claim 1, wherein the logic further includes determining an audio gain adjust signal based at least partially on:

a distance from a person'"'"'s mouth to a microphone.

3. The digital processor of claim 1, wherein the logic further comprises using the mapping to generate at least one gain adjust signal based on at least one person-microphone position signal.

4. The digital processor of claim 1, wherein the gain adjust signal is determined contemporaneously with recording the person.

5. The digital processor of claim 1, wherein the person is recorded, then the gain adjust signal is determined after the recording of the person.