VIRTUAL MICROPHONE CALIBRATION BASED ON DISPLACEMENT OF THE OUTER EAR
An audio system calibrates a virtual microphone using displacement of an outer ear of a user. A transducer presents audio content to the user. One or more sensors monitor displacement of a portion of a pinna of the user. The displacement may be caused in part by the presented audio content. The audio system estimates a sound pressure at an entrance to an ear canal of the user based on the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna, generates a sound filter accordingly, and adjusts audio content using the sound filter. The transducer presents the adjusted audio content to the user, thereby improving the user's auditory experience.
1 . A method comprising:
presenting, via a transducer, audio content to a user;
monitoring, via one or more sensors, displacement of a portion of a pinna of the user, the displacement caused in part by the presented audio content;
estimating a sound pressure at an entrance to an ear canal of the user based on the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna;
generating a sound filter for the transducer using the estimated sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal;
adjusting audio content using the generated filter; and
presenting, via the transducer, the adjusted audio content to the user.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is a cartilage conduction transducer configured to present the audio content.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein one of the one or more sensors is the cartilage conduction transducer.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
monitoring the displacement of the portion of the pinna of the user by measuring a preload of the cartilage conduction transducer.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of:
acceleration sensors and optical displacement sensors.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is a speaker configured to present the audio content to the user via air conduction.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal comprises:
providing, as input, the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna to a model, the model configured to output sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal based on displacement of the pinna.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the model comprises at least one of: a convolutional neural network, a linear model, and a numerical simulation.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the model is configured to receive, as input, a geometry of the ear of the user, the geometry including measurements determined from one or more images of the ear of the user.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjusted audio content has a target magnitude frequency response.
11 . An audio system comprising:
a transducer configured to present audio content to a user;
one or more sensors configured to measure displacement of a portion of a pinna of the user, the displacement caused by the presented audio content; and
a controller configured to:
estimate a sound pressure at an entrance to an ear canal of the user based on the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna;
generate a sound filter for the transducer using the estimated sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal;
adjust audio content using the generated filter; and
instruct the transducer to present the adjusted audio content to the user.
12 . The audio system of claim 11 , wherein the transducer is a cartilage conduction transducer configured to present audio content.
13 . The audio system of claim 12 , wherein one of the one or more sensors is the cartilage conduction transducer.
14 . The audio system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to monitor the displacement of the portion of the pinna of the user by measuring a preload of the cartilage conduction transducer.
15 . The audio system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of: acceleration sensors and optical displacement sensors.
16 . The audio system of claim 11 , wherein the transducer is a speaker configured to present the audio content to the user via air conduction.
17 . The audio system of claim 11 , wherein estimating the sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal comprises the controller being further configured to:
provide, as input, the monitored displacement of the portion of the pinna to a model, the model configured to output sound pressure at the entrance to the ear canal based on displacement of the pinna.
18 . The audio system of claim 17 , wherein the model comprises at least one of: a convolutional neural network, a linear model, and a numerical simulation.
19 . The audio system of claim 17 , wherein the model is configured to receive, as input, a geometry of the ear of the user, the geometry including measurements determined from one or more images of the ear of the user.
20 . The audio system of claim 11 , wherein the adjusted audio content has a target magnitude frequency response.