Proposing Solutions that Utilize Sound Technologies
Creating Better Sound Environments
The Yamaha Speech Privacy System™ that Helps Prevent Conversation Leakage
Yamaha Corporation has continued to create better listening environments through research and development regarding sound fields and related control systems while offering superior sound-generating products such as musical instruments. Yamaha's endeavors to create new businesses in the sound domain have extended to efforts to better protect personal information. In this context, Yamaha has developed its Speech Privacy System™ VSP-1 in order to help provide an environment in which private conversations can be protected in public places.
The VSP-1 is equipped with Yamaha's proprietary information masking technology. This technology enables important conversations to be masked using a unique, newly developed masker synthesized from human speech. Even at lower volume levels, this "information masker" is far more effective than conventional noise maskers.
In addition, this new masker can be used in combination with environmental sounds such as a babbling river or birdsong, as well as with sound produced by musical instruments, resulting in a more pleasant overall sound.
As awareness towards privacy, crime prevention, and information security heightens, more and more people are becoming concerned about the content of their conversation, including personal information, being overheard by a third party. The Yamaha Speech Privacy System™ meets society's needs by providing a secure sound environment for different locations such as medical institutions, financial institutions, and company offices.
Acoustic Conditioning Panels bring a More Comfortable Sound Space
Ringing and boomy reverberations around the home or office make listening difficult, quickly rendering a space less relaxing and increasing stress levels. Such uncomfortable sound environments tend to be neglected as they are not perceived as a social issue, and thus few people are willing to expend time or money on countermeasures.
In order to provide a resolution to this problem, Yamaha Corporation has developed and is now supplying “Acoustic Conditioning Panels” that enable the reverberations in a room to be altered. The panels provide a clear and comfortable sound field by the action of acoustic resonance tubes. They can alter sound fields for a given purpose, making it easier to hear people's voices in conference and meeting rooms while also being suitable for audio rooms and music practice rooms. The panels are easy to install due to their thin form and light weight, and are seeing increasing use at music schools, event spaces, and pianists' homes.
Example of use in a meeting room
Example of use in an event hall
(Event space in Yokohama's Isezaki Shopping Street)
Avitecs™ Soundproof Rooms Meet Diverse Sound Insulation Needs
Yamaha Corporation has spent many years cultivating sound insulation technology to create designs for concert halls and studios that prevent sound leakage. Developed using this technology, Avitecs™ soundproof rooms meet a diverse range of sound insulation needs due to their design flexibility and ease of set-up, not only for music practice rooms but also for company laboratories, hospital examination rooms and recording booths. Using them in combination with acoustic conditioning panels ensures an even more comfortable acoustic setting.
As urbanization continues to increase, Yamaha Corporation expects societal needs for quieter houses to grow. We will continue to promote our soundproofing business aimed at supporting more comfortable living.
SoundSignage™ Helping to Enhance the Effectiveness of Information Displays Through Sound
In recent years, digital signage or electronic billboards that deliver images and information using flat-panel displays and projectors have attracted considerable attention for their ability to provide timely information in the advertising and promotional media fields. It has long been acknowledged that the addition of sound significantly increases the appeal and effect of these displays. To date, however, the market has lacked easily accessible and effective sound solutions. Against this backdrop, Yamaha Corporation has put forward the SoundSignage™ System solution, a new and novel advertising medium that combines the Company's newly developed Thin Light Flexible Speaker (TLF-SP) technology with INFOSOUND acoustic data communication technology that embeds digital information into sound. Demonstration trials were launched in autumn 2010.
Since then, Yamaha Corporation has been endeavoring to establish a SoundSignage™ business model drawing on the fruits of demonstration trials. Moving forward, the Company will continue to promote commercial application of its various technologies including TLF-SP. At the Tokyo Motor Show 2011, a TLF speaker was installed in the Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. booth, which played certain natural sounds such as the sound the wind makes when one is driving. In addition, we provided an internet-linked service using INFOSOUND technology in which URL information for the products being displayed was sent from a speaker to the smartphones of visitors in the vicinity.
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. booth at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011
RemoteLive™ Technology Enables Live Performances to be Enjoyed Remotely
As one way to respond to customer opinion and deliver highly artistic live performances by famous musicians to more and more people, Yamaha Corporation developed RemoteLive™, a technology for the simultaneous transmission of video, audio and live performance data over the Internet. With this technology, the keys of a piano in a remote location will move up and down in sync with the live performance so that people can enjoy the performance as if the concert was being held right in front of them.
In December 2011, the concert “Ryuichi Sakamoto – Playing the Piano for School Music Revival” held in Tokyo as part of the School Music Revival Fund by the Japan Musical Instruments Association was broadcast live at venues in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures using the RemoteLive™ technology. In this way, Yamaha technology plays a part in the recovery of the disaster-affected area.
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