Sound Sensing via Vehicle Body Surface Vibrations: Feasibility and Performance Evaluation

Du Y, Ditroi Toth S, Haindl K. Sound Sensing via Vehicle Body Surface Vibrations: Feasibility and Performance Evaluation. In: 2026 AES 6th International Automotive Audio Conference. Audio Engineering Society; 2026. Paper 12. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23405

@inproceedings{Du2026_23405,
  author = {Du, Yu and Ditroi Toth, Szabolcs and Haindl, Klaus},
  title = {{Sound Sensing via Vehicle Body Surface Vibrations: Feasibility and Performance Evaluation}},
  booktitle = {2026 AES 6th International Automotive Audio Conference},
  note = {Paper 12},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23405}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Sound Sensing via Vehicle Body Surface Vibrations: Feasibility and Performance Evaluation
AU  - Du, Yu
AU  - Ditroi Toth, Szabolcs
AU  - Haindl, Klaus
T2  - 2026 AES 6th International Automotive Audio Conference
M1  - Paper 12
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/29
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23405
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Sound sensing through structural vibrations has emerged as a robust alternative to conventional air-conducted microphones for automotive exterior applications, where environmental exposure can degrade microphone performance. This study evaluates the feasibility and performance of sensing airborne speech via vehicle body surface vibrations using surface-mounted accelerometers. Three miniature accelerometers with different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were mounted at seven different locations on a vehicle body to sense speech generated by an artificial mouth positioned outside the vehicle. Speech quality was objectively assessed using ETSI TS 103 281 perceptual metrics under various driving conditions. The results demonstrate that acceptable to good quality of speech can be reconstructed from body surface vibrations under relatively low-noise conditions such as parked or idling states. Accelerometer SNR is identified as a key performance factor, with higher-SNR sensors consistently yielding superior speech quality across all mounting locations and test conditions. Sensor mounting location also plays a significant role, particularly under elevated driving noise, with relatively flexible and noise-isolated body panels providing better performance. In addition, increasing the speech level improves performance, consistent with the benefits associated with higher-SNR accelerometers. Finally, the results indicate that introducing a high-pass characteristic into the accelerometer frequency response does not provide a consistent performance benefit.
ER  -