ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

2aSP1. Microphone systems and signal processing: New opportunities in sound capture.

J. L. Flanagan

CAIP Ctr., Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ 08855-1390

H. F. Silverman

Brown Univ., Providence, RI 02912

Over the recent past, advances in two technical areas have opened new opportunities for sophisticated sound capture at distances. High-quality low-cost acoustic sensors, primarily in the form of electret microphones, are plentiful and can be used in large numbers. Continued progress in microelectronics now provides enormous amounts of economical computation. These incentives have stimulated research in new techniques for sound capture in practical acoustic environments---such as conference halls, noisy computer rooms, teleconferencing facilities, and mobile communication. Recent research has embraced the design of large-scale two- and three-dimensional arrays of microphones, and the implementation of algorithms for automatic sound source location. This report reviews the status of research in these areas. It also highlights the emerging applications of distant-talking sound capture for hands-free operation of communications equipment such as automatic speech recognizers. [This research is supported by the National Science Foundation under Contract #MIP 9314625.]