A Seat Headrest Loudspeaker System with Personalized Sound Zone Capabilities

This paper proposes a novel local reproduction method called “personalized sound zone,” which can confine a sound field by using a combination of software processing and hardware innovations that remove loudspeaker enclosures from an array, and discusses the development of a headrest loudspeaker prototype unit not to leak sound into adjacent seats for airline seating. The proposed method is based on a two-channel fixed beamforming algorithm that does not require extensive equipment, and its prototype is compact enough to fit in a seat headrest. The personalized sound zone software algorithm is implemented on a DSP circuit board and processed in real time.