Directional microphones in computer simulated and real rooms

The subjective effects of utilizing highly directional microphones in a teleconferencing setting are not well understood. Computer simulation of both complex microphone systems and room environments offer one opportunity to study the combined effects. A complex microphone system can be modeled as a collection of point microphones distributed in space and summed with appropriate time delays. Established room simulation modeling methods were used. Combining both models together, with appropriate attention to spatial and time resolution of the microphone model, allows calculation of the impulse response of the complete structure, in an arbitrary room environment. The resulting impulse response can be used as a filter for speech. Results of such simulations are presented and compared with real room results