AUTOMOTIVE SOUND DISTRIBUTION AND SEATING MANAGEMENT FOR BILATERAL HEARING DIFFERENCES

Various sounds are reproduced in a passenger cabin of a transportation vehicle with a plurality of positions for seating respective persons who may have differential hearing losses between a right ear and a left ear. A dominant ear and a nondominant ear are identified of a particular user in a respective seating position. Electrical audio signals are generated in a sound source intended for reproduction by an array of speakers disposed within the passenger cabin for directing reproduced sounds toward the seating positions from respective directions. The audio signals are differentially adjusted before sending them to the array of speakers such that reproduced sounds directed to the nondominant ear are attenuated in relation to the reproduced sounds directed to the dominant ear (i.e., the sound to the dominant ear is enhanced).