ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,354,619, issued on July 8.
"Tableconverse audio system: directional speech enhancement for restaurant tables" was invented by Henry Hardy Perritt Jr. (Charlottesville, Va.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A speech enhancement system for restaurant environments that improves conversation intelligibility amid ambient noise without requiring diners to wear devices. The system comprises directional microphones embedded in restaurant tables that capture speech while rejecting ambient noise, a digital signal processing unit that isolates and enhances speech signals, and directional speakers that deliver enhanced audio to specific listening positi...