SmartBelt: A Wearable Microphone Array for Sound Source Localization with Haptic Feedback

TL;DR

SmartBelt is a wearable device that localizes sound sources around the user and provides directional haptic feedback, demonstrating high accuracy and potential benefits for individuals with hearing impairments.

Contribution

This work introduces a novel wearable microphone array system with real-time sound source localization and haptic feedback, including a simple calibration method for different waist sizes.

Findings

Mean Average Error of 2.90 degrees in localization

92.3% correct haptic motor selection rate

Effective feedback for potential hearing impairment assistance

Abstract

This paper introduces SmartBelt, a wearable microphone array on a belt that performs sound source localization and returns the direction of arrival with respect to the user waist. One of the haptic motors on the belt then vibrates in the corresponding direction to provide useful feedback to the user. We also introduce a simple calibration step to adapt the belt to different waist sizes. Experiments are performed to confirm the accuracy of this wearable sound source localization system, and results show a Mean Average Error (MAE) of 2.90 degrees, and a correct haptic motor selection with a rate of 92.3%. Results suggest the device can provide useful haptic feedback, and will be evaluated in a study with people having hearing impairments.