HARMAN Unveils Automotive Embedded Audio Products to Bolster In-Vehicle Experience and Safety

HARMAN, an automotive technology company and subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on designing consumer experiences for automotive grade, announces the introduction of Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone products to enhance the audio experience inside and outside the vehicle. These new products enable a variety of applications to enhance safety and user experience, from detecting emergency vehicle sirens to listening for exterior speech commands from drivers or traffic controllers to detecting glass breakage or vehicle impact.

From increased awareness of outside sounds inside the vehicle to enhanced communication possibilities for drivers, passengers and emergency vehicles on the road, HARMAN’s Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone offer adaptable and future-looking features. The completely sealed piezo-based Sound and Vibration Sensor can be invisibly integrated into a vehicle’s exterior while the External Microphone is designed to withstand environmental elements and can be configured as a single element or multi-element array.

“Audio has the power to deliver incredible experiences for drivers and passengers, and safety is no exception,” said Mitul Jhala, Senior Director, Automotive Embedded Audio, HARMAN International. “With our new embedded audio products, Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone, OEMs can now offer the acoustic sensing and exterior sound detection consumers are looking for, while enhancing safety both inside and outside the vehicle.”

Key features of Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone include:

*       Easy vehicle integration: HARMAN’s Sound and Vibration Sensor is a fully developed design that allows for invisible vehicle integration, enabling exterior vehicle speech recognition and acoustic sensing.
*       Ready for the future: As future vehicles advance, they will likely be required to include enhanced external sensors to increase awareness of exterior sounds for vehicle occupants and the vehicle systems, such as feeding the acoustic alerts delivered by HARMAN’s Ready Vision. HARMAN’s Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone provide an integrated sensor product that enables acoustic monitoring of speech commands and sounds on the outside of the vehicle, delivering what consumers need today as opposed to years from now.
*       High performance: HARMAN’s Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone exhibit a wide band frequency response for accurate speech recognition and acoustic sensing performance, enabling potential AI features such as audio object detection in HARMAN’s Ready Vision

HARMAN has more than 30 years of experience designing, optimising, and integrating automotive microphones and sensors into vehicles. Both the Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone are unique, patented designs and have been specifically designed to meet the needs of OEMs and consumers. Available only through HARMAN, the Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone deliver improved safety features and connectivity for all vehicle segments, from entry level to luxury.

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.