SOUND LOCALIZATION SYSTEM FOR TELECONFERENCING USING SELF-STEERING MICROPHONE ARRAYS

摘要

A teleconferencing system (100) is disclosed having a video camera for generating a video signal representative of a video image of a first station B. A microphone array (150, 160) is also provided in the first station for receiving a sound from one or more fixed non-overlapping volume zones (151-159) into which the first station is divided. The microphone array is also provided for generating a monochannel audio signal (170) representative of the received sound and a direction signal indicating, based on the sound received from each zone, from which of the volume zones the sound originated. The teleconferencing system also includes a display device (120A) at a second station A for displaying a video image of the first station. A loudspeaker control device (140) is also provided at the second station for selecting a virtual location (121) on the displayed video image depending on the direction signal, and for generating stereo sound from the monochannel audio signal which stereo sound emanates from the virtual location on the displayed video image.