Google seeks patent on technology that wipes out wind noise in recordings

Google has filed a patent application for a technology that helps users erase any wind noise from recordings using gadgets like smartphones. This technology is expected to help users in various applications, including Google's own video streaming platform YouTube.

Earlier, the internet major had filed with the Indian Patent Office an application for its invention related to filtering of wind noises in video content.

In the patent specification filed with the authorities, the company says that while many content-sharing websites allow users to post images and videos for public and private display and that with the technological advancements users are also increasingly capturing and sharing their own visual content using smartphones, videos recorded outdoors are susceptible to distortions created by the environment.

Wind noise is a common culprit that leads to unpleasant clipping of the audio signal for a substantially degraded user experience, it says.

The existing solutions for wind noise reduction do not provide for the use of varied approaches to wind noise replacement based on the characteristics of the wind noise. Earlier, the solutions for wind noise reduction relied on several microphones simultaneously recording the audio signal and used these multiple recordings to reduce unwanted background noise. Another approach used a separation technique to filter wind noise.

Google, on the other hand, elaborates on a technology in which the wind noise in a voice recording is identified, including the duration, selecting it and either removing or replacing it with silence or other noises. However, it says that the patent filing is neither intended to identify key elements of the invention nor delineate any scope of the particular implementations or claims.

It may be noted that the company has been filing patent applications in India for its various inventions and the filings might have to undergo scrutiny before an approval.