Audio recovery and acoustic source localization through laser distance sensors

Abstract

Previous research has shown that we can measure the acoustic displacement of a surface with a laser to recover audio inside a room, but these were not done with modern laser distance measurement methods. One such method, LIDAR, has the potential for acoustic recovery, allowing for a room’s visual and auditory mapping to be done with one device. With audio recovery through an ideal spinning LIDAR, we would not only obtain the sound inside the room, but we should be able to localize an acoustic source through sampling points around a room. We define the parameters required for a single-point light distance sensor to record audio and compare our results to a light distance sensor used in manufacturing. We also show the parameters that a spinning LIDAR device needs for acoustic source localization and draw a comparison to what is currently available today.