3-D Acoustic Source and Sound Localization

Introduction
Source Localization and Sound Localization have been topics of great interest in the field
of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) since the 1970s. Sound localization is the method of
processing sound in a way that the listener perceives sound coming from a direction where there
are no physical sources of sound or speakers. This technology can be used in a movie theatre to
simulate a 3 dimensional sound environment around the listener. Source localization is the
inverse problem to sound localization. It involves analyzing sound waves at different points in
space to calculate the position of the sounds source. This paper focuses the techniques used in
the localization of an acoustic source in a three dimensional environment, identifies the
applications of such technology in the industry, and discusses the implementation problems
faced by researchers in the field.
Industry Applications
Industrial applications of source localization are not widespread. Source localization has
been a topic of interest amongst researchers, but the research has not resulted in mass adoption of
products with localizing technology. Most current applications are in the headphones market,
where the headphones would have the capability of processing a movies sound such that the user
feels he is in the movies three dimensional environment [4]. There are many niche products
where source localization will be widely adopted. Source localization will soon be used in video
conferencing to identify which person in the remote location is speaking. It is also being used in
lecture halls to record videos of an on going lecture. Instead of having a human control and focus
the camera constantly on the speaker, the audio/video system can be automated by identifying
the location of the speaker based on localizing his speech and then pointing the camera in the
calculated direction. Such autonomous applications have been proven to be as good as their
human counterparts [5]. Researchers are also analyzing applications in robotics where a mobile
robot could track and follow in real-time multiple moving sources of sound. Such technology
could allow robots to interact with human more naturally [1].

Source Localization Technology

The major technological aspects of Source localization technology include high tech
sensors, or microphones, real time DSP processors and sophisticated algorithms. Human beings
have only two ears but can easily identify the direction a sound came from. This is because of the
Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF). This is a result of the shape of the human ear that
reshapes the spectrum of incoming sound so the brain the decipher its direction. The brain uses
two methods to identify the direction of the sound. One is based on the time difference perceived
by each ear of the incoming sound, and the other is the intensity difference [2]. Researchers have
calculated how to apply these same ideas to localize sounds using just two microphones. Many
applications also use four, eight or arrays of microphones to increase the accuracy of the system.
Application implementation
To implement a typical source localization application, the engineer would require two or
more microphones to record the sound, a DSP processor to analyze the sound in real time and a
display interface [6]. High tech microphones are always required to decrease signal to noise
ratios. The major problem facing researchers are the reverberations, signal aliasing and sound
reflections caused in almost any environment. Multiple sources of sound and closed
environments with multiple walls that reflect the sound waves cause added problems[3].
Conclusion
Source Localization has been used over the years in small non-mainstream applications.
Recently with the advancement in high tech microphones and powerful DSP chips, the potential
applications of this technology are increasing. Three dimensional sound in movie theaters [4],
robotic tracing and tracking of multiple sound sources, intelligent video conferencing and video
lecture recording are a few applications that are being pursued in the industry. The challenges
researchers face still exist in this field, but the increased computational power of chips now will
allow sophisticated algorithms to solve tough problems in Source localization technology.

References
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Y. Suzuki and J. Fujimori, Sound localization control apparatus, U. S. Patent 17,

4817149, 8 Aug., 1995.

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H. Wang and P. Chu, Voice source localization for automatic camera pointing system in
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T. Szalay, 3D Acoustic Source Localization, [Online]. Available: http://

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