Isolation and enhancement of short duration speech prompts in an automotive system

A method for enhancing speech prompts in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• providing, via an audio processor, entertainment data to a plurality of loudspeakers for playback in a vehicle;
• receiving a speech prompt indicative of only a spoken audio output to a driver in the vehicle;
• reducing a level of the speech prompt that is played back at a first loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers;
• adding a time delay to the speech prompt that is played back at a second loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers;
• and
• employing a binaural psychoacoustic effect for the driver when the audio processor reduces the level of the speech prompt that is played back at the first loudspeaker and when the audio processor adds the time delay to the speech prompt that is played back at the second loudspeaker.

A computer-program product for embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed for enhancing speech prompts in a vehicle, the computer-program product comprising instructions to:

• provide entertainment data to a plurality of loudspeakers for playback in the vehicle;
• receive a speech prompt indicative of only a spoken audio output to a driver in the vehicle;
• reduce a level of the speech prompt that is played back at a first loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers;
• and
• add a time delay to the speech prompt that is played back at a second loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers, and
• employ a binaural psychoacoustic effect for the driver when reducing the level of the speech prompt that is played back at the first loudspeaker and when adding the time delay to the speech prompt that is played back at the second loudspeaker.