Information delivery systems for car passengers without networking capabilities

Abstract

In this paper, audio data-hiding schemes and speaker/recorder devices are employed to deliver information within nearby areas where connection and networking capabilities are expensive or even unavailable. Conventionally, information delivery in this way suffers from low data rate, questionable robustness and, most seriously, the limited transmission distance. Here, we alleviate the constraint of short transmission distance by devising a novel application scenario where widely available speaker/recorder devices move around together with the recipient - the information delivery service based on car radio systems. To be more specific, passengers in cars can receive additional visual information broadcasted through radio channels using devices capable of audio recording. To achieve sufficient data rate and necessary robustness, existing audio watermarking schemes have been enhanced. Furthermore, empirical on-road tests are performed to evaluate the robustness of the proposed scheme in real-world environments. According to our experimental results, enhanced audio watermarking schemes can be practically adopted to provide visual information without introducing additional costs or specific receivers in the client end. The proposed scheme can bring new business opportunities and commercial values for existing radio channels and car radio systems. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.