A speech enhancement apparatus comprising: a sensor unit comprising at least two microphones; a speech detection unit for detecting speech of a speaker by receiving at least one signal via any one of the at least two microphones of the sensor unit ; a direction estimation unit for estimating a direction of the received at least one signal and for determining the estimated direction of the received at least one signal based on detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus ; and a speech enhancement unit for enhancing the received at least one signal, wherein the direction estimation unit is arranged to control operations of the speech detection unit based on the result of estimating the direction, the speech detection unit is arranged to control an operation of the speech enhancement unit based on the result of detecting the speech, based on determining the estimated direction of the received at least one signal based on detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus , the speech detection unit is arranged to determine whether the received at least one signal is associated with a speech of the speaker to control an operation of the apparatus , and the speech enhancement unit is arranged to beamform the received at least one signal based on a difference between signals of the at least two microphones such that the received at least one signal from the estimated direction is emphasised, and output the beamformed at least one signal to perform speech recognition, and based on the estimated direction of the received at least one signal not being determined based on not detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus , the speech detection unit and the speech enhancement unit are arranged to be deactivated so that the determining whether the received at least one signal is associated with the speech of the speaker, the beamforming of the received at least one signal, and the outputting of the received at least one signal are deactivated. a sensor unit comprising at least two microphones; a speech detection unit for detecting speech of a speaker by receiving at least one signal via any one of the at least two microphones of the sensor unit ; a direction estimation unit for estimating a direction of the received at least one signal and for determining the estimated direction of the received at least one signal based on detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus ; and a speech enhancement unit for enhancing the received at least one signal, wherein the direction estimation unit is arranged to control operations of the speech detection unit based on the result of estimating the direction, the speech detection unit is arranged to control an operation of the speech enhancement unit based on the result of detecting the speech, based on determining the estimated direction of the received at least one signal based on detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus , the speech detection unit is arranged to determine whether the received at least one signal is associated with a speech of the speaker to control an operation of the apparatus , and the speech enhancement unit is arranged to beamform the received at least one signal based on a difference between signals of the at least two microphones such that the received at least one signal from the estimated direction is emphasised, and output the beamformed at least one signal to perform speech recognition, and based on the estimated direction of the received at least one signal not being determined based on not detecting the face of the speaker is facing the apparatus , the speech detection unit and the speech enhancement unit are arranged to be deactivated so that the determining whether the received at least one signal is associated with the speech of the speaker, the beamforming of the received at least one signal, and the outputting of the received at least one signal are deactivated. <EOS>