Elucidation of mechanisms of distantly-presented bone-conducted ultrasonic perception to develop a novel communication device

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22950
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Nakagawa Seiji 千葉大学, フロンティア医工学センター, 教授 (70357614)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 長谷 芳樹 神戸市立工業高等専門学校, その他部局等, 准教授 (60448769) ; 大塚 翔 千葉大学, フロンティア医工学センター, 助教 (00776049)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 骨伝導 / 超音波 / 遠位呈示 / 知覚特性 / 伝搬過程

Outline of Final Research Achievements

High-frequency sounds above 20 kHz presented via bone conduction (bone-conducted ultrasound: BCU) can be heard clearly and transmit speech information using amplitude modulation. Additionally, BCU can be perceived even when the vibrator is presented to body parts distant from the head, such as the neck, arm, and trunk. To elucidate mechanisms of this distantly-presented BCU hearing, the perception and propagation characteristics were examined. The results obtained indicated that distantly-presented BCU has good temporal resolution and practical frequency resolution and intelligibility.　These results provide useful information to develop a novel audio interface using the distantly-presented BCU hearing.

Free Research Field

生体医工学，聴覚科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本申請課題で解明に取り組んだ遠位呈示骨導超音波知覚，その応用として開発を目指す新型オーディオ・デバイスはいずれも全く前例のないもので，技術的にも極めてユニークである． また，本提案課題で明らかにした遠位呈示骨伝導の知覚特性や伝搬メカニズムは，遠位呈示骨伝導デバイスの実用性を示すと同時にその最適化に有用な知見を示すものであり，骨伝導デバイスの普及に貢献するものと思われる．