A voice directivity measurement system with facial tracking and augmented acoustics
* Presenting author
Abstract:
Voice directivity has an influence on the perceived acoustics for both the singer/speaker and the audience. One of the most important aspects of voice directivity in a room is the direct-to-reverberant energy ratio (D/R ratio) at the listening position. The more focused the voice directivity is, the higher the D/R ratio. This is why voice directivity is becoming more and more important in virtual or augmented acoustic reality. Another field of interest is the performance analysis of professional voices as part of the education. Previous studies showed that a change in mouth opening has an effect on the directivity characteristics, i.e., the main direction and the beam width. Acquiring detailed voice directivity data from human speakers or singers is no easy undertaking due to head movements or mouth changes during measurements. Therefore, we propose an acoustic measurement system enhanced by a facial tracking system to build a ground truth for different mouth opening configurations in speaking and singing. Furthermore, to support natural usage of the voice while actually being in an anechoic measurement room, the system provides augmented acoustics to simulate a more comfortable acoustic environment.