Provided is a technology of optimizing a latent variable by solving a convex optimization problem equivalent to a non-convex optimization problem instead of solving the non-convex optimization problem. A latent variable optimization apparatus includes an optimization unit that calculates an optimum value ˜w* of a latent variable ˜w based on an optimization problem min.sub.˜w(L.sub.convex(˜w)+Σ.sub.d=1.sup.DL.sub.d(˜w)), L.sub.convex being a strongly convex function relevant to the latent variable ˜w, L.sub.d being a function relevant to the latent variable ˜w, S.sub.d,1, . . . , S.sub.d,C being a region that is obtained by dividing a domain of the function L.sub.d into C closed convex sets, ∧.sub.d,c being a convex function that is defined on the region S.sub.d,c and that approximates the function L.sub.d, c.sub.d being a discrete variable that has a value of 1, . . . , C, the optimization unit calculating the optimum value ˜w* by solving an optimization problem min.sub.c_1, . . . , c_D (min.sub.˜w(L.sub.convex (˜w)+Σ.sub.d=1.sup.D∧.sub.d,c_d(˜w))) instead of solving the above optimization problem.

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to media systems. In some aspects, a media device may monitor, using a radio frequency (RF) sensor, an environment of the media device; determine, from a received RF signal obtained by the RF sensor, a user attribute of a user within the environment; and control an audio system, associated with the media device, to direct an audio beam toward or away from the user. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Acoustic waveguides can be used to improve audio performance of playback devices, such as a soundbar. Such a playback device can include an elongated body defining an outer perimeter with a forward surface, an upper surface, and a rounded edge between the forward surface and the upper surface. An up-firing transducer is configured to direct sound along an axis that has a vertical oblique angle with respect to a forward axis. A waveguide in fluid communication with the up-firing transducer includes a sidewall extending circumferentially around the transducer, the sidewall having a first end adjacent the up-firing transducer and a second end adjacent the outer perimeter, such that an opening defined by the sidewall has a larger area at the second end than at the first end. A rear portion of the sidewall is more steeply angled with respect to the axis than a forward portion of the sidewall.

Determination of a composite acoustic parameter value for a headset is presented herein. A directionally enhanced audio signal is generated based on audio signals from an acoustic sensor array and a spatial signal enhancement filter that is directed for enhancement of a sound source. A SNR improvement value is determined based on a SNR value of the directionally enhanced audio signal and a SNR value of an audio signal from an acoustic sensor of the acoustic sensor array. The SNR improvement value is input into a model that maps SNR improvement values to spatial acoustic parameters to determine a spatial acoustic parameter. A temporal acoustic parameter is determined based on the audio signals. The composite acoustic parameter value is determined based on the spatial acoustic parameter and a temporal acoustic parameter value. Audio content presented to a user is adjusted based in part on the composite acoustic parameter value.

This application discloses a device to project sound to a specific person while keeping the sound away from others nearby. The device has various parametric speakers arranged in a pattern to project sounds in a narrow field while preventing dispersion of sounds to nearby areas. The device can be connected to other electronic equipment by wires or wirelessly, and can be removed and used in different settings. This device has particular application in delivering sounds to infants and toddlers to sooth them while the same sounds are not heard by adults nearby.

This disclosure describes a conferencing device with beamforming and echo cancellation that includes: a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals; a processor configured to execute the following steps: (1) performing a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array into a plurality of combined signals, (2) performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals, (3) receiving with a voice activity detector the far end signal as an input, (4) selecting one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end where a signal selector uses the far end signal as information to inhibit the signal selector from changing the selection of the combined echo cancelled signals while only the far end signal is active.

The aircraft intercom employs beam steerable microphone arrays and speaker arrays deployed in each of a plurality of zones within the aircraft. A speech recognizer generates recognition text from utterances picked up by the microphone arrays. A direction control processor analyzes the arrival time of signals from the microphone arrays to identify utterance location, which is then used to control the beam direction of at least one steerable speaker array. A dialogue manager processor coupled to the speech recognizer and to each of the plurality of microphone arrays and plurality of speaker arrays responds to a set of predefined keywords to selectively route a voiced communication from a first selected zone to a second selected zone using the microphone array and speaker array disposed in each of the first and second selected zones.

An image capture device with beamforming for wind noise optimized microphone placements is described. The image capture device includes a front facing microphone configured to capture an audio signal. The front facing microphone co-located with at least one optical component. The image capture device further includes at least one non-front facing microphone configured to capture an audio signal. The image capture device further includes a processor configured to generate a forward facing beam using the audio signal captured by the front facing microphone and the audio signal captured by the at least one non-front facing microphone, generate an omni beam using the audio signal captured by the at least one non-front facing microphone, and output an audio signal based on the forward facing beam and the omni beam.

Example techniques relate to audio generation in a media playback system. Based on one or more first functions and first characteristics of an area, the system may generate first audio that includes a first audio signal and a second audio signal. The system provides the first audio signal to at least one first audio driver and the second audio signal to at least one second audio driver, thereby causing a first playback device and a second playback device to play back the first audio synchronously. The system receives second characteristics of the area and based on one or more second functions and the second characteristics, generates second audio comprising a third audio signal and a fourth audio signal. The system provides the third audio signal to the at least one first audio driver and the fourth audio signal to the at least one second audio driver.

Embodiments of this application provide an audio processing method and a device. In a multi-channel video recording mode, a plurality of channels of video images and a plurality of channels of audio can be recorded simultaneously, and different audio can be played during video playback. A specific solution is as follows: After detecting an operation of opening a camera by a user, an electronic device displays a shooting preview interface, and then enters a multi-channel video recording mode. After detecting a shooting operation of the user, the electronic device displays a shooting interface, where the shooting interface includes a plurality of channels of video images. Then, the electronic device records the plurality of channels of video images, and records audio corresponding to each of the plurality of channels of video images based on a shooting angle of view corresponding to each channel of video image.