The issue of incomprehensible train announcements in busy train stations, airports, or business conferences is being tackled with audio-enhancement software developed by the Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology.
ADAPT DRC incorporates carefully placed microphones to monitor the ambient sound in the environment and act on its surroundings to deliver more decipherable audio.
Rather than simply increasing the volume of announcements when ambient sound is on the rise, ADAPT DRC manipulates certain frequencies in real time – avoiding the issue of distortion and unwanted vibration.
Combined with Dynamic Range Compression, the technology boosts short-duration high-frequency consonant sounds that can be quietened amongst unwanted noise, and lowers the volume of loud sounds, to provide audio at one volume.
With widespread potential for installation in loud public spaces, ADAPT DRC could also possibly be applied in smartphone technology.