A spherical microphone array system for traffic scene analysis

Abstract

This paper describes a practical spherical microphone array system for traffic auditory scene capture and analysis. Our system uses 60 microphones positioned on the rigid surface of a sphere. We then propose an optimal design of a robust spherical beamformer with minimum white noise gain (WNG) of -6 dB. We test this system in a real-world traffic environment. Some preliminary simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate its performance. This system may also find applications in broader areas such as 3D audio, virtual environment, etc.