JP2000003182A - Acoustic system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To direct sounds different from respective users or from user's group existing on a specified area by constituting plural speakers to generate sound waves while aiming at plural users or specified group users respectively. SOLUTION: Plural speakers 20-24 are set upon the ceiling 4, and these speakers generate the sound waves while aiming at the users A-E sitting on plural chairs 10-14. The sound waves are constituted so as to generate different sound waves for respective aimed users A-E. The sound waves emitted from the speakers 20-24 are propagated as the sound waves in an audible area at the time of reaching the users A-E at least respectively corresponding to the speakers 20-24, and the sound waves generate the sound waves with very strong directivity caught only by its specified user. For instance, when the sound waves are constituted so as to aim at two users with one speaker, the matter making catch the same sound or voice with a two users group becomes possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audio system installed in an attraction venue or the like, and relates to each of viewers sitting on a plurality of seats installed in the venue.
Alternatively, the present invention relates to an acoustic system capable of producing different sounds for each viewer sitting on a sheet in a specific area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Parametric speakers have been known as means for generating superdirective sound waves in the audible range. A description of this parametric speaker can be found in, for example, the editor / Acoustical Society of Japan, the publisher / Kodansha Co., Ltd. (1
On page 224, line 17 to line 226, line 8 of the title "Everything in the Sound Dictionary / From the Mechanism by which the Brain Listens to Sound to the Acoustic Microscope", the title of the first edition on December 20, 996) There is.

[0003] Also, there is a method of arranging a large number of speakers so as to be regarded as a large speaker. However, even with these methods, it is difficult to achieve a high degree of focusing of the sound. There is a special technology called "parametric speaker". A powerful ultrasonic wave having a higher frequency than an audible sound is radiated with a sound wave in the audible range. As shown in FIG. 5-5, the principle is the same as that of radio AM broadcasting in which the magnitude (amplitude) of an ultrasonic signal is changed according to sound waves in an audible range to be transmitted. A radio is required to reproduce sound from the radio waves of AM broadcasting, but a special device is not required for reproduction in the case of ultrasonic waves. This is because air, which is a sound propagation medium, performs a demodulation function of a radio wave against a powerful sound wave. Although the details of the mechanism are omitted, in the case of a powerful ultrasonic wave, the waveform is distorted while traveling in the air, and an audible range component of the original signal is automatically generated. According to this method, the wave sources are widely scattered along the path in which the ultrasonic waves travel, and the wave source looks like a large wave source. As a result, similarly to using a large speaker,
Sound waves can be emitted sharply in one direction. With this technology,
For example, it is possible to allow only a specific person to listen to a necessary sound in a crowd. It is described.

As an apparatus utilizing the above-described parametric loudspeaker, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-253800 proposes an audio apparatus utilizing spatial multiplexing. The invention of this publication is intended to acoustically partition one space into a plurality of areas. For details, an example of an exhibition hall is given in an embodiment, and it is desired to hear explanations of a plurality of exhibitions. If you stand in front of an exhibition corner, you will be able to hear a clear explanation without being disturbed by the audio of the explanation of the other exhibition corners.

On the other hand, in recent years, in amusement parks and the like, for example, meteorites fly toward users according to 3D images, or alien models fly out of the floor by breaking them out in 3D images. Attraction venues are known in which such effects are performed using 3D images and smoke or water.

However, in such an attraction venue, a user who enjoys the above-described effects while sitting on a plurality of chairs provided on the floor of the venue obtains the same audio-visual effect and bodily sensation. There was also a notion of lack of interest, and there was no elaborate sound production.

In recent years, in the amusement industry,
There are signs that the auditory sensation is important, and many games using sound have been commercialized.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A user sitting on a chair installed on the floor of an attraction venue using a speaker capable of generating sound waves in an audible range having a high directivity, such as the above-described parametric speaker, as the attraction venue. The first task is to produce a different sound for each user present in a specific area where each of the users or a plurality of users is a group.

As a means for producing a different sound for each specific user as described above, a speaker is embedded in a chair in which the user sits, or headphones are attached to the user sitting in each chair. Such methods are conceivable. However, when the above-described means is adopted, when a speaker is embedded in a chair, a new problem occurs such that the user's sitting height is extremely low or high and the user cannot follow the change, or headphones are attached. This not only causes a sense of discomfort to the user, but also poses a problem that is not very favorable in terms of hygiene.

In view of the above problems, the present invention relates to an acoustic system installed in an attraction venue or the like, which can cope with various sitting heights of a user using the sound system, It is an object of the present invention to provide an audio system capable of producing an effect capable of producing different sounds for specific user groups.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a plurality of chairs installed on the floor of an attraction venue, and provides a visual effect such as the same image to a user sitting on the chair. In an acoustic system used in an attraction venue configured to provide, a plurality of speakers are installed above or below the plurality of chairs, and the speakers aim at each user or a specific group of users sitting on the plurality of chairs. The sound wave is substantially inaudible to each of the intended users or users other than a predetermined group, and the sound wave is generated by a user sitting on a plurality of chairs. Synchronize different sounds to users for each or a predetermined group, or different sounds of the same sound to visual effects such as the video Be heard Te is configured to be.

Further, the above-mentioned loudspeaker having a high directivity is a parametric loudspeaker which emits a sound wave in an audible range which the user wants to hear by putting it on an ultrasonic wave.

[0013] Further, the direction of generation of the sound wave of the speaker is changed so that the direction of generation of the sound wave of the speaker follows the movement of the chair so that the direction of the sound wave is always directed to a targeted user or a user of a specific group. A control means is provided.

Further, a sound wave absorbing member for absorbing sound waves is arranged at least on the floor surface. As described above, it is not essential to provide the sound absorbing member on the floor, but when a loud sound is generated by the speaker, there is a problem that the sound is reflected by the floor and can be heard by an adjacent user. It is useful for reducing.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an attraction hall in which the sound system of the present invention is installed.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an interior space of the attraction venue, which is surrounded by a floor 2, side surfaces 3, a ceiling 4, and a front surface 5. A monitor screen 6 is provided on the front surface 5, and a 3D image or the like is displayed on the monitor screen 6.

On the floor 2, a plurality of chairs 10, 11,
12, 13, 14 are provided, and on the ceiling 4 above these chairs 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
A plurality of speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are installed, and the speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 emit sound waves aiming at users A, B, C, D, E sitting on the plurality of chairs. It is configured to occur.

The sound waves are transmitted to the intended users A, B,
For example, the speaker 20 is configured to be able to generate different sound waves for each of C, D, and E.
The speaker 21 is installed so as to radiate a sound wave at the user A sitting at 0.
The speaker 22 is installed so as to emit a sound wave to the user C, the speaker 23 to the user D, and the speaker 24 to the user E.

The speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, 2
4 emits at least the sound from the speaker 2
Users A corresponding to 0, 21, 22, 23, and 24, respectively.
When it reaches B, C, D, and E, it is propagated as sound waves in the audible range. Also, the speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are so arranged that the propagated sound wave generates a very directional sound wave that can be heard only by the specific user.
For example, a parametric speaker may be used. As described above, in the present embodiment, by using the speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 that generate sound waves in an audible range having extremely strong directivity, users other than the user who intends to propagate sound can be used. It can be configured to be almost inaudible.

As described above, the speakers 20, 21, 22
The sound waves in the audible range emitted from the speakers 2, 23, 24 are almost inaudible to users other than the user who is trying to propagate the sound. It becomes possible to make each user sitting down hear the sound.

The chairs 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
It is designed to transmit sound by aiming at the person (user) sitting on the floor from above, so it is possible for a person trying to listen to the sound to move his body and search for a position where the sound can be heard, etc. In particular, such an effect is more useful as a speaker having stronger directivity is used. If the speaker is configured to aim at the user sitting on the chair from above, if the speaker is arranged so as to aim at the user sitting on the chair from the front side, the higher the directivity of the speaker, the higher The possibility that the user cannot hear the sound emitted from the speaker at high and low sitting heights increases. However, if the speaker is configured to aim at the user sitting on the chair from above, the audible allowable range for such user's sitting height is reduced. There is an advantage that it can be increased.

Next, the principle of the parametric speaker will be briefly described with reference to FIG. This parametric loudspeaker uses ultrasonic waves having strong directivity in order to send the sound to a specific area with directivity. The sound generated by the sound generation unit 25, such as the sound of a melody or explosion sound of music or the like, is transmitted electrically to speakers, and the speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 output frequency signals. The sound transmitted from the sound generating means 25 is put on the two different ultrasonic waves f1 and f2 and put out in the air. The two ultrasonic waves f1 and f2 interfere in the air, and the frequency of the sum and difference of the two frequencies is obtained. Is generated, and the sound transmitted from the sound generating means 25 is reproduced at the difference (f1-f2) frequency with sound waves in the audible range.

As described above, when an ultrasonic wave which cannot be heard by a person is used and the frequency of f1-f2 generated by the interference of the two ultrasonic waves is changed to a sound in an audible range, an audible sound generated in the air is generated. The sound waves in the area have a very high directivity and can be sent to a person in a specific area. Such a phenomenon is called a non-linear parametric action or a non-linear interaction of sound waves. A non-linear medium called air is used to generate a difference sound wave having a frequency of f1-f2. The parametric loudspeaker refers to a loudspeaker utilizing the above-described non-linear parametric action.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of an acoustic system according to the present invention. In FIG.
Alternatively, the same components as those described in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

The monitor screen 6 is electrically connected to an image generating means 6A.
Although not shown, image data for displaying a 3D image prepared in advance on the monitor screen 6 is stored in A.

Further, a synchronization control means 30 is connected to the video generation means 6A, and the synchronization control means 30 is also electrically connected to the sound generation means 25. According to such a configuration, the synchronization control unit 30 includes the video generated by the video generation unit 6A and the sound generation unit 2.
5 so as to be synchronized with the sound wave generated. Such a synchronous control means 30
Is not always necessary. For example, it is possible to synchronize the video and the audio in advance and prepare the audio, and to reproduce the video and the audio at the same time to achieve the natural synchronization. However, a plurality of sound effects are prepared in advance in a semiconductor memory or the like as an electric file, and from the prepared plurality of sound effects, each of the plurality of speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 is separately provided. This is useful when the sound effect is generated in synchronization with the video.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the attraction space 1 is a game operation space, and the chair 1 is watched while watching game information displayed on the monitor screen 6.
In the case where a user sitting at 0, 11, 12, 13, or 14 operates an operation unit (not shown) to advance the game, the progress of the game is also changed by the operation, and the image changes accordingly. Therefore, in order to be able to synchronize the game video with a change at any time, it is necessary to provide a synchronization control means for appropriately extracting sound from a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory as described above in accordance with the progress of the game.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, speakers 20 and 21 aiming at each user so that each user sitting on a chair can hear a sound or a sound such as a sound effect. , 22, 23, and 24 are provided, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to configure so that two users aim at one speaker. With such a configuration, it is possible for two groups of users to hear the same sound or voice.

Further, in this embodiment, one speaker corresponds to one user. However, three or more speakers are arranged aiming at one user. Sound waves can be transmitted to a wide area that cannot be transmitted by one speaker.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 4, and the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

The chair 14 in this embodiment is provided with a chair moving means 15 having a drive source for moving the chair back and forth, and a rail 15A for restricting the movement of the chair moving means 15 in the left-right direction. ing.

The speaker 24 provided on the ceiling 4 is provided with a speaker moving means 26 and a rail 26A for restricting the left and right movement of the speaker moving means 26.

A follow-up control means 31 for controlling and moving the speaker moving means 26A so that sound waves can be emitted at the user E sitting on the chair 14 moved by the chair moving means 15 is provided. I have. The follow-up control means 31 is configured to be able to move the speaker E following the movement of the chair 14 so that the sound always emitted from the speaker 14 is emitted toward the user E sitting on the chair. That is, the tracking control means 31
In accordance with the movement of the chair 14, it plays a role of changing the sound wave generation direction of the speaker so that the sound wave generation direction of the speaker is always directed to the intended user.

A reference numeral 27 indicated by a dashed line indicates a parametric speaker. When the parametric speaker 27 is provided on a speaker fixing stand 27A formed integrally with the chair 14, a user sitting on the chair 14 can be identified. In addition to being able to aim and hear the sound from below, the structure in which the chair 14 and the speaker 27 are integrally fixed is employed. There is an advantage that there is no need to do this.

In this embodiment, the chair is moved back and forth as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.
This includes the case where the speaker is controlled so as to follow the tilt, the vertical movement, or the horizontal movement of the chair.

In the above-described embodiment, when the speakers 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are arranged from above to aim at the chairs 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, the distance between the chairs can be reduced. It is preferable to provide a sound absorbing member such as a known sponge (not shown) on at least the floor surface. Conversely, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4, when the user recognizes the sound from below using the speaker, it is preferable to provide the above-described sound absorbing member on the ceiling 4.

[0038]

According to the present invention configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained for each claim.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by installing a directional speaker above a chair, a person sitting on an adjacent chair or another group of people can be
It is possible to recognize not only the same sound but also different sounds. In addition, since the sound is transmitted by aiming at the person sitting on the chair from above, there is a possibility that a troublesome work such as a person trying to hear the sound moving his own body and searching for a position where the sound can be heard may occur In particular, such an effect is more useful as a speaker having stronger directivity is used.

Also, while showing the same video to the user,
Since different sounds synchronized with the video can be listened to for each user or for each user in a predetermined group, it is possible to widen the range of various attractions as an attraction venue.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since a parametric speaker utilizing a non-linear parametric action is used as a speaker, a sound wave in an audible range having extremely high directivity is generated, and the same image is shown to the user while the same image is shown to the user. Different sounds synchronized with the video can be heard for each user or for each user in a predetermined group, and even if the distance between chairs between adjacent chairs or between groups is set to be small,
Since it is possible to reduce the risk of hearing different sounds next to each other, it is possible to effectively use the installation space of the chair.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, for example, even when performing an effect in which a chair moves up and down or tilting in a game hall or an attraction hall, it is possible to specify each user sitting on a chair or a specific seat on a chair. It is possible to produce different sounds for each group.

In addition, according to the structure of the fourth aspect, it is possible to reduce the problem that a person sitting on an adjacent chair or a person in another group can hear the sound reflected from the floor or ceiling. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings] [Explanation of symbols]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an attraction hall provided with an audio system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of a parametric speaker.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of the sound system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... floor surface 4 ... ceiling 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ... chair 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 ... speaker

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An audio system used in an attraction venue, wherein a plurality of chairs are installed on a floor of the attraction venue, and a visual effect such as the same image is provided to a user sitting on the chair. Above or below the plurality of chairs, a plurality of speakers are installed, and the speakers are configured to generate sound waves aimed at each user or a specific group of users sitting on the plurality of chairs, The sound waves are substantially inaudible to each of the aimed users or users other than the predetermined group, and the sound waves are different sounds for each of the users sitting on a plurality of chairs or for each of the predetermined groups of users, or The same sound but different sounds can be heard in synchronization with the visual effect such as the video. Sound system and butterflies. 2. The sound system according to claim 1, wherein the speaker is a parametric speaker. 3. The sound system according to claim 1, wherein the direction of sound waves generated by the speaker is always directed to a user or a specific group of users following the movement of the chair. And a control means for changing the direction of generation of the sound wave. 4. The acoustic system according to claim 1, wherein a sound absorbing member that absorbs a sound wave is arranged at least on the floor.