A receiving unit is disclosed, including at least three receivers, each configured to receive an ultrasonic signal with a wavelength λ from the transmitting unit. A first receiver is arranged at a distance of at most one half wavelength λ/2 of the ultrasonic signal from a second receiver and from a third receiver. The at least three receivers are arranged in one plane. A processor is configured to determine the respective time-of-flight from the ultrasonic signal received at each of the at least three receivers. The respective time-of-flight is a time that the ultrasonic signal requires from the transmitting unit at a defined start time to the respective receiver. The processor is further configured to determine the three-dimensional position and/or direction of the transmitting unit from the determined times-of-flight and the arrangement of the at least three receivers.

A system for human interaction with virtual objects comprises: a touch sensitive surface, configured to detect a position of a contact made on the touch sensitive surface; a reference layer rigidly attached to the touch sensitive surface and comprising one or more patterns; a display device, configured to display a virtual object that is registered in a reference coordinate fixed with respect to the touch sensitive surface; one or more image sensors rigidly attached to the display device, configured to capture an image of at least a portion of the one or more patterns; and at least one processor, configured to determine a position and an orientation of the display device with respect to the touch sensitive surface based on the captured image, and identify an interaction with the virtual object based on the detected position of the contact made on the touch sensitive surface.

A system for human interaction with virtual objects comprises: a touch sensitive surface, configured to detect a position of a contact made on the touch sensitive surface; a reference layer rigidly attached to the touch sensitive surface and comprising one or more patterns; a display device, configured to display a virtual object that is registered in a reference coordinate fixed with respect to the touch sensitive surface; one or more image sensors rigidly attached to the display device, configured to capture an image of at least a portion of the one or more patterns; and at least one processor, configured to determine a position and an orientation of the display device with respect to the touch sensitive surface based on the captured image, and identify an interaction with the virtual object based on the detected position of the contact made on the touch sensitive surface.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to improve detection of audio signatures. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions in the apparatus, and processor circuitry to execute the instructions to: determine a first time difference of arrival for a first audio sensor of a meter and a second audio sensor of the meter based on a first audio recording from the first audio sensor and a second audio recording from the second audio sensor; determine a second time difference of arrival for the first audio sensor and a third audio sensor of the meter based on the first audio recording and a third audio recording from the third audio sensor; determine a match by comparing the first time difference of arrival to i) a first virtual source time difference of arrival and ii) a second virtual source time difference of arrival; in response to determining that the first time difference of arrival matches the first virtual source time difference of arrival, identify a first virtual source location as the location of a media presentation device presenting media; and remove the second audio recording to reduce a computational burden on the processor.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to improve detection of audio signatures. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions in the apparatus, and processor circuitry to execute the instructions to: determine a first time difference of arrival for a first audio sensor of a meter and a second audio sensor of the meter based on a first audio recording from the first audio sensor and a second audio recording from the second audio sensor; determine a second time difference of arrival for the first audio sensor and a third audio sensor of the meter based on the first audio recording and a third audio recording from the third audio sensor; determine a match by comparing the first time difference of arrival to i) a first virtual source time difference of arrival and ii) a second virtual source time difference of arrival; in response to determining that the first time difference of arrival matches the first virtual source time difference of arrival, identify a first virtual source location as the location of a media presentation device presenting media; and remove the second audio recording to reduce a computational burden on the processor.

Provided is a method and system that includes a lighting fixture having a sensor unit and a processor and that includes an audio detection device which includes a microphone connected with the processor to detect audio signal adjacent to the lighting fixture, a time measuring device for recording a time measurement associated with the audio signal, a pair of mobile devices that each include a sonic wave generator for generating sonic wave signal in a direction of the microphone, and a distance calculation unit to calculate a distance between the sonic wave signal and the audio signal based on a time-stamp of the sonic wave signal and the audio signal, to determine a sonic pole position triangulation indicative of a location of the lighting fixture.

Provided is a method and system that includes a lighting fixture having a sensor unit and a processor and that includes an audio detection device which includes a microphone connected with the processor to detect audio signal adjacent to the lighting fixture, a time measuring device for recording a time measurement associated with the audio signal, a pair of mobile devices that each include a sonic wave generator for generating sonic wave signal in a direction of the microphone, and a distance calculation unit to calculate a distance between the sonic wave signal and the audio signal based on a time-stamp of the sonic wave signal and the audio signal, to determine a sonic pole position triangulation indicative of a location of the lighting fixture.

A method of collision localization on a robotic device includes obtaining audio signals from a plurality of acoustic sensors spaced apart along the robotic device; identifying, based on a collision being detected, a strongest audio signal; identifying a primary onset time for an acoustic sensor producing the strongest audio signal, the primary onset time being a time at which waves propagating from the collision reach the acoustic sensor producing the strongest audio signal; generating a virtual onset time set, by shifting a calibration manifold, based on the identified primary onset time, the calibration manifold representing relative onset times from evenly spaced marker locations on the robotic device to the plurality of acoustic sensors; determining scores for the marker locations based a standard deviation of elements in the virtual onset time set; and estimating a location of the collision based on a highest score of the determined scores.

A method of collision localization on a robotic device includes obtaining audio signals from a plurality of acoustic sensors spaced apart along the robotic device; identifying, based on a collision being detected, a strongest audio signal; identifying a primary onset time for an acoustic sensor producing the strongest audio signal, the primary onset time being a time at which waves propagating from the collision reach the acoustic sensor producing the strongest audio signal; generating a virtual onset time set, by shifting a calibration manifold, based on the identified primary onset time, the calibration manifold representing relative onset times from evenly spaced marker locations on the robotic device to the plurality of acoustic sensors; determining scores for the marker locations based a standard deviation of elements in the virtual onset time set; and estimating a location of the collision based on a highest score of the determined scores.

In an embodiment, a method comprises: capturing, by one or more microphone arrays of a vehicle, sound signals in an environment; extracting frequency spectrum features from the sound signals; predicting, using an acoustic scene classifier and the frequency spectrum features, one or more siren signal classifications; converting the one or more siren signal classifications into one or more siren signal event detections; computing time delay of arrival estimates for the one or more detected siren signals; estimating one or more bearing angles to one or more sources of the one or more detected siren signals using the time delay of arrival estimates and a known geometry of the microphone array; and tracking, using a Bayesian filter, the one or more bearing angles. If a siren is detected, actions are performed by the vehicle depending on the location of the emergency vehicle and whether the emergency vehicle is active or inactive.