A system and method to prevent eavesdropping by a device. An anti-eavesdrop component is installed on the device. The anti-eavesdrop component is configured to actively prevent the device from capturing audio from the environment. In response to installing the anti-eavesdrop component, the device recognizes the anti-eavesdrop component as a primary audio input for the device. The anti-eavesdrop component then proceeds to block the device from capturing outside audio by injecting noise or otherwise interfering with the primary audio input.

An information processing device includes a first acquisition unit that acquires a sound signal outputted from a mic, an acoustic feature detection unit that detects an acoustic feature based on the sound signal, an identification unit that identifies first discomfort condition information corresponding to a first work type of work performed by a user, among one or more pieces of discomfort condition information specifying discomfort conditions using the acoustic feature and corresponding to one or more work types, based on work type information indicating the first work type, and an output judgment unit that judges whether first masking sound should be outputted or not based on the acoustic feature detected by the acoustic feature detection unit and the first discomfort condition information.

An information processing device includes a first acquisition unit that acquires biological inform information on a user, a first judgment execution unit that executes a first judgment on whether a first discomfort condition is satisfied or not based on first discomfort condition information specifying the first discomfort condition and the biological information, a second acquisition unit that acquires a sound signal, an acoustic feature detection unit that detects an acoustic feature based on the sound signal, a second judgment execution unit that executes a second judgment on whether a second discomfort condition is satisfied or not based on second discomfort condition information specifying the second discomfort condition and the acoustic feature, and an output judgment unit that judges whether first masking sound should be outputted or not based on a result of the first judgment and a result of the second judgment.

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for sound masking. The method includes identifying one class among a plurality of classes based on frequency characteristics of a voice of a first occupant in a vehicle, obtaining reference voice data corresponding to the identified class, generating a personalized masking sound for the first occupant by synthesizing the reference voice data with white noise, and controlling an output of the personalized masking sound.

A vehicle that efficiently prevents a driver from eavesdropping a voice of a passenger may include: a driver's seat having a headrest speaker in a headrest thereof; the headrest speaker configured to output a sound, a front passenger seat, at least one rear passenger seat; a microphone configured to detect a voice of the passenger seated on the at least one rear passenger seat; and a controller configured to generate a masking curve based on the voice of the passenger and output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speaker.

A vehicle and a controlling method thereof are disclosed. The vehicle includes a first seat in which a talker is seated; a second seat in which a passenger is seated; a plurality of speakers provided in the first seat and the second seat; a microphone for receiving the voice of the passenger or the voice of the talker; and a controller configured to control the speaker to output a masking sound tuned based on the voice of the talker or the voice of the passenger.

A sound masking system according to the invention is disclosed in which one or more sound masking loudspeaker assemblies are coupled to one or more electronic sound masking signal generators. The loudspeaker assemblies in the system of the invention have a low directivity index and preferably emit an acoustic sound masking signal that has a sound masking spectrum specifically designed to provide superior sound masking in an open plan office. Each of the plurality of loudspeaker assemblies is oriented to provide the acoustic sound masking signal in a direct path into the predetermined area in which masking sound is needed. In addition, the sound masking system of the invention can include a remote control function by which a user can select from a plurality of stored sets of information for providing from a recipient loudspeaker assembly an acoustic sound masking signal having a-selected sound masking spectrum.

Certain example embodiments relate to an acoustic wall assembly that uses active and/or passive sound reverberation to achieve noise-disruptive functionality, and/or a method of making and/or using the same. With the active approach, sound waves in a given frequency range are detected by a sound masking circuit. Responsive to detection of such sound waves, an air pump (e.g., speaker) is used to pump air in the wall assembly to actively mask the detected sound waves via reverberation and/or the like. The wall assembly may include one, two, or more walls, and the walls may be partial or full walls. With the passive approach, sound waves in a given frequency range are disrupted via features (e.g., holes, slits, etc.) formed in and/or on a wall itself. These techniques may be used together or separately, in different example embodiments.

A method performed by an audio system comprising a headset. The method sends a playback signal containing user-desired audio content to drive a speaker of the headset that is being worn by a user, receives a microphone signal from a microphone that is arranged to capture sounds within an ambient environment in which the user is located, performs a speech detection algorithm upon the microphone signal to detect speech contained therein, in response to a detection of speech, determines that the user intends to engage in a conversation with a person who is located within the ambient environment, and, in response to determining that the user intends to engage in the conversation, adjusts the playback signal based on the user-desired audio content.

Systems and methods for audio privacy in network video surveillance systems are described. A video camera may include an image sensor and a microphone to generate a video stream. Responsive to detecting a human speaking condition in the video stream, the audio data may be selectively modified to mask a human voice component of the audio data for storing and/or displaying the surveillance video stream.