Voice input device and method for estimation of utterance direction

A voice input method of a voice input device, the voice input method comprising:

• determining, based on a signal of a voice from an utterer, a first signal having a peak that exceeds a threshold value, wherein
• the voice is input from a microphone array attached to a fixed part of the voice input device,
• the fixed part is configured to be disposed at a determined position, and
• a movable part is movable with respect to the fixed part;
• estimating a horizontal angle corresponding to the determined first signal having the peak that exceeds the threshold value as a first horizontal angle in an utterance direction;
• calculating a second signal at a horizontal angle and an elevation angle within a range of the first horizontal angle;
• detecting a peak value of the second signal for the horizontal angle and the elevation angle within the range of the first horizontal angle;
• estimating a direction corresponding to the peak value of the second signal as the utterance direction of the voice from the utterer;
• and
• driving the movable part based on the estimated utterance direction.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute operations, the operations comprising:

• determining, based on a signal of a voice from an utterer, a first signal having a peak that exceeds a threshold value, wherein
• the voice is input from a microphone array attached to a fixed part of a voice input device,
• the fixed part is configured to be disposed at a determined position, and
• a movable part is movable with respect to the fixed part;
• estimating a horizontal angle corresponding to the determined first signal having the peak that exceeds the threshold value as a first horizontal angle in an utterance direction;
• calculating a second signal at a horizontal angle and an elevation angle within a range of the first horizontal angle;
• detecting a peak value of the second signal for the horizontal angle and the elevation angle within the range of the first horizontal angle;
• estimating a direction corresponding to the peak value of the second signal as the utterance direction the voice from the utterer;
• and
• driving the movable part based on the estimated utterance direction.