Bachelor Theses - Details

Characterization of Earbud Vibrations for Signal Processing Applications

Supervisors: Christoph Weyer

Area of work: Signal Processing, Headphone Technology, Acoustics

Tools: Matlab / Python, Acoustic Measurements, Hardware, Statistical Signal Analysis, Modeling

Category: Bachelor Thesis / Master Thesis

Status: Open

Some recent bluetooth earbuds are equipped with high-bandwith accelerometers, which can record the voice of the wearer as vibrations transmitted through the wearer's head. At the same time, these accelerometers are very robust against outside acoustical and wind noise. Thus, they have great potential for many signal processing applications.

While research in the past has shown that earbud-vibrations can be measured and utilized in different applications, e.g. occlusion effect reduction or speech enhancement, the exact form and mechanisms of vibration are largely unclear. The goal of our research is to quantify the earbud-vibration for different use cases, and better understand the underlying mechanisms, to inform later signal processing. Topics in this area are available upon request. They usually include tasks like

  • Acoustic measurements
  • Modeling of transfer paths
  • Practical work with hardware prototypes (e.g. 3D printing, modifying existing headphones, electronics, etc.)
  • Work with acceleration sensors (calibration, connection to dsp hardware)
  • System identification
  • Statistical analysis of measured audio data


If your interested in this area, please contact me.

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