Bamiel: Visualization Method of Communication Spaces using Microphone Arrays and its application to exhibition analysis

Abstract

The significance of informal face-to-face communication has recently increased in various settings, such as exhibitions and offices. Despite various efforts to increase the activities, such as placing coffee machines, measuring activity is challenging as multiple communications coincide in different places. Although face recognition technologies are the standard method to measure activity, it counts the number of people present and not the communication itself. We have developed Bamiel, a real-time visualization method of communications that uses microphone arrays to solve the issue. Bamiel visualizes the communication space by combining sound source localization results. Our experiment conducted at a business exhibition, CEATEC, showed two results: (1) Bamiel is capable of visualizing communications even in a noisy environment, (2) we do not observe a correlation between the number of collected name cards and the amount of heatmap, which may indicate the difference of the strategy among the exhibitors.