Signal processing for sound capture

High‐quality electret microphones and single‐chip processors are economical enough to be used in large numbers. This latitude opens opportunities for dynamic source location and sound capture with spatial selectivity in three dimensions. This report discusses algorithms for matched‐filter processing of microphone arrays and for coordinate tracking of moving talkers. A prototype conferencing system is demonstrated in which the automatic source locator steers both a video camera and a beam‐forming microphone array to capture image and audio from a moving talker. [Components of this research are supported by NSF Contract 397‐26740 and DARPA Contract DABT63‐93‐C0037, the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, and the corporate members of the Rutgers Center for Computer Aids for Industrial Productivity (CAIP).]