Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Sakurako Yazawa

Kazunori Kobayashi

Kenichi Noguchi

Shoichiro Saito

Yuma Koizumi

A microphone array is a microphone array including two or more microphone holders. The two or more microphone holderseach hold one microphone. The two or more microphone holdersare separatable from each other. The two or more microphone holdersare combinable in two or more combination manners different from each other such that the two or more microphone holdersare each in contact with any one of the other microphone holdersand a distance between the two respective microphones held by two of the microphone holdersthat are in contact with each other is a predetermined distance.

Microphone array

A sound collecting apparatus includes a base of a substantially spherical body and a plurality of microphones provided on the base, a number of the microphones having a predetermined constraint, the plurality of microphones being alternately arranged vertically relative to a horizontal plane including a center of the substantially spherical body in order to improve resolution in a horizontal direction.

Sound collecting apparatus

A sound collection apparatus includes a substantially spherical base on which at least a predetermined number of recess portions are provided in a surface thereof with a predetermined interval therebetween; and a predetermined number of microphones. The predetermined number is an integer of 2 or greater. The microphones are installed on an inner bottom surface side of the recess portions one by one. Intervals between sound collecting portions of adjacent microphones are substantially equal to each other.

Sound collection apparatus

An acoustic signal is separated based on a difference in the distance from a sound source to a microphone. By using a filter obtained by associating a value corresponding to an estimated value of a short-distance acoustic signal which is obtained by using 'a predetermined function' from a second acoustic signal derived from signals collected by 'a plurality of microphones' and is emitted from a position close to &#x201c;the plurality of microphones&#x201d; with a value corresponding to an estimated value of a long-distance acoustic signal which is emitted from a position far from &#x201c;the plurality of microphones&#x201d;, a desired acoustic signal representing at least one of a sound emitted from a position close to &#x201c;a specific microphone&#x201d; and a sound emitted from a position far from &#x201c;the specific microphone&#x201d; is acquired from a first acoustic signal derived from a signal collected by &#x201c;the specific microphone&#x201d;. Note that &#x201c;the predetermined function&#x201d; is a function which uses such an approximation that a sound emitted from the position close to &#x201c;the plurality of microphones&#x201d; is collected as a spherical wave, and a sound emitted from the position far from &#x201c;the plurality of microphones&#x201d; is collected as a plane wave.

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Tokyo, Japan

Sakurako Yazawa