- Open Access
Passive acoustic non-line-of-sight localization without a relay surface
Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 024064 – Published 20 February, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/p97k-sf71
Abstract
The detection and localization of a source hidden outside the line-of-sight (LOS) traditionally rely on the acquisition of indirect signals, such as those reflected from visible relay surfaces such as floors or walls. These reflected signals are then utilized to reconstruct the obscured scene. In this study, we present an approach that utilizes signals diffracted from an obstacle edge to achieve three-dimensional localization of an acoustic point source situated outside the LOS. The key to the present method is that it removes the dependency on a relay surface for localization. We address two scenarios—a doorway and a convex corner—and propose a localization method for each of them. For the first scenario, we utilize the two edges of the door as virtual detector arrays. For the second scenario, we exploit the spectral signature of a knife-edge diffraction, inspired by the human perception of sound location by the head-related transfer function. In both methods, knife-edge diffraction is utilized to extend the capabilities of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) acoustic sensing, enabling localization in environments where conventional relay-surface based approaches may be limited.
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