TY - GEN
T1 - Development of an acoustically adaptive modular system for near real-time clarity-enhancement
AU - Liu Cheng, Alexander
AU - Cruz, Patricio
AU - Llorca Vega, Nestor
AU - Mena, Andrés
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This paper details the development of an acoustically adaptive modular system capable of enhancing Speech Clarity (C50 Clarity Index) in specific locations within a space in near real-time. The mechanical component of the system consists of quadrilateral, truncated pyramidal modules that extend or retract perpendicularly to their base. This enables said modules (1) to change in the steepness of the sides of their frustum, which changes the way incoming sound waves are deflected/reflected/diffused by the surfaces of the pyramid; and (2) to reveal or to hide the absorbent material under each module, which enables a portion of incoming sound waves to be absorbed/dissipated in a controlled manner. The present setup considers a fragmentary implementation of six modules. The behavior of these modules is determined by two steps in the computational component of the system. First, the initial position of the modules is set via a model previously generated by an evolutionary solver, which identifies the optimal extension/retraction extent of each of the six modules to select for individual configurations that collectively ascertain the highest clarity in said specific locations. Second, a simulated receiver at the location in question measures the actual clarity attained and updates the model’s database with respect to the configuration’s corresponding clarity-value. Since the nature of acoustics is not exact, if the attained measurement is lower than the model’s prediction for said location under the best module-configuration, but higher than the second-best configuration for the same location, the modules remain at the initial configuration. However, if the attained values are lower, this step reconfigures the modules to instantiate the second—or third-, fourth-, etc.—best configuration and updates the model’s database with respect to the new optimal module-configuration value. These steps repeat each time the user moves to another specific location. The objective of the system is to contribute to the intelligent and intuitive Speech Clarity regulation of an inhabited space. This contributes to its Interior Environmental Quality, which promotes well-being and quality of life.
AB - This paper details the development of an acoustically adaptive modular system capable of enhancing Speech Clarity (C50 Clarity Index) in specific locations within a space in near real-time. The mechanical component of the system consists of quadrilateral, truncated pyramidal modules that extend or retract perpendicularly to their base. This enables said modules (1) to change in the steepness of the sides of their frustum, which changes the way incoming sound waves are deflected/reflected/diffused by the surfaces of the pyramid; and (2) to reveal or to hide the absorbent material under each module, which enables a portion of incoming sound waves to be absorbed/dissipated in a controlled manner. The present setup considers a fragmentary implementation of six modules. The behavior of these modules is determined by two steps in the computational component of the system. First, the initial position of the modules is set via a model previously generated by an evolutionary solver, which identifies the optimal extension/retraction extent of each of the six modules to select for individual configurations that collectively ascertain the highest clarity in said specific locations. Second, a simulated receiver at the location in question measures the actual clarity attained and updates the model’s database with respect to the configuration’s corresponding clarity-value. Since the nature of acoustics is not exact, if the attained measurement is lower than the model’s prediction for said location under the best module-configuration, but higher than the second-best configuration for the same location, the modules remain at the initial configuration. However, if the attained values are lower, this step reconfigures the modules to instantiate the second—or third-, fourth-, etc.—best configuration and updates the model’s database with respect to the new optimal module-configuration value. These steps repeat each time the user moves to another specific location. The objective of the system is to contribute to the intelligent and intuitive Speech Clarity regulation of an inhabited space. This contributes to its Interior Environmental Quality, which promotes well-being and quality of life.
KW - Adaptive acoustics
KW - Cyber-physical systems
KW - Internet of Things
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076277277&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-34255-5_12
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-34255-5_12
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85076277277
SN - 9783030342548
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 170
EP - 185
BT - Ambient Intelligence - 15th European Conference, AmI 2019, Proceedings
A2 - Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis
A2 - De Ruyter, Boris
A2 - Mavrommati, Irene
PB - Springer
T2 - 15th European Conference on Ambient Intelligence, AmI 2019
Y2 - 13 November 2019 through 15 November 2019
ER -