Vehicle exterior shutter sound amplification and directional speaker system

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle exterior shutter sound amplification and directional speaker system. Directional audio is provided to a location around a vehicle. A location map is stored that defines information indicating how each of a plurality of shutters of the vehicle affects sounds emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle in a plurality of locations. A respective location of at least one user outside of the vehicle is tracked. A power level is applied to the plurality of speakers and a positioning is applied to the plurality of shutters using the location mapping to direct sound output from the speakers to the location of the user at a desired volume level.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to a vehicle exterior closure sound amplification and directional speaker system. Background Art

[0002] Vehicles may have speakers inside and outside the cabin. Vehicles may also have different numbers and types of openings and closing features, such as doors, windows, sunroofs, etc. Some vehicles may also have passive entry features that allow the vehicle to detect a key fob or phone in the vicinity of the vehicle. Additionally, some vehicles may have external cameras that allow the vehicle to detect and track people in the vicinity of the vehicle. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In one or more illustrative embodiments, a method for providing audio to locations around a vehicle includes: storing a location map that defines information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closures of the vehicle, in a plurality of positions, affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle; tracking a corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilizing the location map to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closures to direct sound output from the speakers to the corresponding position of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0004] In one or more illustrative embodiments, a vehicle for providing audio to locations around the vehicle includes one or more controllers configured to: store a position mapping that defines information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closures of the vehicle, in a plurality of positions, affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle, the plurality of positions including a plurality of intermediate positions between an open position and a closed position; track a corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilize the position mapping to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closures to direct sound output from the speakers to the corresponding location of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0005] In one or more illustrative embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions for providing audio to locations around a vehicle, the instructions, when executed by one or more controllers of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to perform operations including: storing a position map defining information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closures of the vehicle, in a plurality of positions, affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle, the plurality of positions including a plurality of intermediate positions between an open position and a closed position; tracking a corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilizing the position map to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closures to direct sound output from the speakers to the corresponding location of the at least one user at a desired volume level. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 An example vehicle in a system for providing directional audio features to locations around the vehicle is shown;

[0007] Figure 2 shows an example test setup for characterizing a vehicle to create a position map;

[0008] Figure 3 An example of the operation of a system for providing directional audio features to a plurality of tracking devices at locations around a vehicle is shown;

[0009] Figure 4 An example process for characterizing a vehicle to create a position map is shown;

[0010] Figure 5 An example process for providing directional audio features to tracking devices at locations around a vehicle is shown; and

[0011] Figure 6 An example of a computing device for providing directional audio features to locations around a vehicle is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the present disclosure, which may be implemented in various and alternative forms. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to illustrate details of particular components. Therefore, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching those skilled in the art to employ the present disclosure in various ways.

[0013] A vehicle may have built-in speakers and outlets for powering additional speakers. Surrounding many of these speakers and outlets are exterior openings and closing members, such as doors, windows, trunk, liftgate, tailgate, and luggage compartment lid. These openings and closing members may be controllable by the vehicle and / or may be positionable in open, closed, and / or any set position in between. The positioning of the openings and closing members may be controlled to allow the sound produced by the speakers to be reflected toward specific locations outside the vehicle. This reflection of sound may be used to amplify and focus the sound produced by the speakers. In some examples, the vehicle's sensor suite may be used to identify the relative position of the listener with respect to the vehicle. The openings and closing members may be used to aim the sound from the speakers to optimize the listening experience for the listener at those relative positions. Further aspects of the present disclosure are discussed in detail herein.

[0014] Figure 1 An example vehicle 102 is shown in a system 100 for providing directional audio features to locations around the vehicle 102; the vehicle 102 may include various speakers 106 configured to convert electrical signals into audible sounds. These speakers 106 may be located in the cabin, trunk, front trunk, truck bed, and other compartments of the vehicle 102. The vehicle 102 may also include various openings and closures 108, such as doors, windows, lids, etc., which are configured to be controllably opened and closed to provide access to various compartments. The vehicle 102 may also include one or more controllers configured to utilize sensors 128 to track a user. Based on the user's location, the one or more controllers may be configured to provide audio signals to the speakers 106 and manipulate the openings and closures 108 to selectively direct audio relative to the user.

[0015] As shown, vehicle 102 is a sport utility vehicle (SUV). However, vehicle 102 may include any of various types of cars, crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), SUVs, trucks, recreational vehicles (RVs), boats, airplanes, or other mobile machines for transporting people or goods. Such vehicles 102 may be human-driven or autonomous. In many cases, vehicle 102 may be powered by an internal combustion engine. As another possibility, vehicle 102 may be a battery electric vehicle powered by one or more electric motors. As another possibility, vehicle 102 may be a hybrid electric vehicle powered by both an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors, such as a series hybrid electric vehicle, a parallel hybrid electric vehicle, or a parallel / series hybrid electric vehicle.

[0016] The vehicle 102 may include one or more controllers configured to execute and manage various vehicle 102 functions under power from the vehicle battery and / or powertrain. The controllers may include various types of computing devices that support execution of the controller functions described herein. In an example, the controllers may include one or more processors configured to execute computer instructions, and a storage medium on which computer-executable instructions and / or data may be stored. Computer-readable storage media (also referred to as processor-readable media or storage devices) include any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that can be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor). Generally speaking, a processor receives instructions and / or data, such as from a storage device, into a memory and uses the data to execute the instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from a computer program created using a variety of programming languages ​​and / or technologies, including, but not limited to, Java, C, C++, C#, Fortran, Pascal, Visual Basic, Python, JavaScript, Perl, and the like, either individually or in combination.

[0017] As depicted, example vehicle controllers are represented as discrete controllers (e.g., audio system 104, powertrain controller 110, body controller 112, position controller 120, human-machine interface (HMI) controller 122, and telematics controller 124). However, the vehicle controllers may share physical hardware, firmware, and / or software such that functionality from multiple controllers may be integrated into a single controller, and functionality of various such controllers may be distributed across multiple controllers.

[0018] The audio system 104 may be configured to control various speakers 106 that are audible outside of the vehicle 102. These speakers 106 may include speakers 106 that are built into the vehicle 102, as well as speakers 106 that are accessories added to the vehicle 102. As some examples, the speakers 106 may include speakers 106 in the doors of the vehicle 102, speakers 106 in the headrests or headliner of the vehicle 102, speakers 106 in the front and / or rear instrument panel of the vehicle 102, speakers 106 in the front trunk of the vehicle 102, speakers 106 in the trunk or cargo area of ​​the vehicle 102, and the like.

[0019] The vehicle 102 may define various openings and closures 108 that allow access to various compartments of the vehicle 102 where the speakers 106 are located. As some non-limiting examples, these openings and closures 108 may include a door of a passenger compartment, a tailgate of a truck bed (e.g., a tailgate of a truck bed covered by a tonneau cover), a hood of a trunk and / or front trunk, a sunroof, a decklid, a liftgate, etc.

[0020] Powertrain controller 110 may be configured to provide control of engine operating components (eg, idle speed control components, fuel delivery components, emissions control components, etc.) and to monitor status of such engine operating components (eg, status of engine codes).

[0021] The body controller 112 can be configured to manage the locking, unlocking, keyless entry, remote start, and access point status verification of various external openings and closing members 108 of the vehicle 102 (e.g., the status of the openings and closing members 108 of the hood, doors, and / or trunk of the vehicle 102). In many examples, the openings and closing members 108 can be motorized or otherwise automated. In such examples, the body controller 112 can be configured to control and / or monitor the open or closed state of the openings and closing members 108. For example, the body controller 112 can be configured to control a window actuator to open or close the windows of the vehicle 102. In another example, the body controller 112 can control a trunk or front trunk actuator to open or close the trunk lid and / or front trunk lid of the vehicle 102. In yet another example, the vehicle 102 can have an actuator for automatically opening and closing the doors, and the body controller 112 can control the angle at which the doors are opened or closed.

[0022] The body controller 112 may also be configured to manage various other functions, such as exterior lighting 114. Exterior lighting 114 may include various lights on the exterior of the vehicle 102. These lights may include, for example, headlights (e.g., low beam and / or high beam) that shine forward in front of the vehicle 102, taillights that shine rearward behind the vehicle 102, center high-mounted stop lights (CHMSLs), curtain lights that shine toward the sides of the vehicle 102, bed lights in the cargo bed of a truck, and / or puddle lights that shine downward from below the sideview mirrors. Some vehicles 102 may have aimable headlights that can be steered in different directions. Furthermore, some vehicles 102 may be equipped with dynamic light-emitting diode (LED) headlights that can shape the light output. Some vehicles 102 (e.g., police patrol cars or off-road vehicles 102) may also have spotlights or other aftermarket lights that may be aimable or otherwise controllable. The orientation and intensity of the vehicle 102's exterior lighting 114 may be adjusted by the body controller 112.

[0023] The vehicle body controller 112 can communicate with one or more wireless transceivers 116. The wireless transceiver 116 can be configured to facilitate communication with a tracking device 118 using a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or Ultra Wideband (UWB). The tracking device 118 can include a key fob, a mobile phone, or a dedicated device configured to wirelessly communicate with the wireless transceiver 116 to facilitate identification and location of a user. The wireless transceiver 116 can allow the vehicle body controller 112 to identify the location of the key fob, mobile phone, or other device that can identify a user to access the vehicle 102. In an example, the vehicle body controller 112 can unlock the doors of the vehicle 102 in response to detecting the proximity of an authorized user via the wireless transceiver 116 (e.g., based on increased BLE signal strength or decreased radio frequency time of flight (RF-ToF) of the approaching tracking device 118).

[0024] The location controller 120 may be configured to provide vehicle location information. For example, the location controller 120 may allow the vehicle 102 to receive time and location information from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) constellation of satellites.

[0025] The HMI controller 122 may be configured to receive user input via various buttons or other controls, and to provide vehicle status information to the driver, such as fuel or charge level information, engine operating temperature information, and the current location of the vehicle 102. The HMI controller 122 may be configured to provide information to various displays within the vehicle 102, such as a center console touchscreen, an instrument cluster screen, etc.

[0026] The telematics controller 124 (sometimes referred to as a telematics control unit (TCU)) may include networking hardware configured to facilitate communications between other vehicle controllers and with other devices of the system 100. The telematics controller 124 may include, or otherwise have access to, a modem 126 configured to facilitate communications with other vehicles 102 or with infrastructure. Additionally, the modem 126 may be configured to communicate via a broadcast protocol to facilitate cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications with devices such as other vehicles 102. The telematics controller 124 may also be configured to communicate via various other protocols, such as with a communications network via a network protocol. It should be noted that these protocols are merely examples and that different peer-to-peer and / or cellular technologies may be used.

[0027] The vehicle 102 may also utilize various sensors 128 to receive information about the vehicle's 102 surroundings. In an example, these sensors 128 may include one or more of a camera (e.g., an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) camera), an ultrasonic sensor, a radar system, and / or a lidar system. The sensors 128 may be used to allow the vehicle 102 to image its surroundings. For example, camera sensors 128 mounted on the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle 102 may be used to capture visual images of the vehicle's 102 surroundings. These images may be used, for example, to detect the location of a user who is not carrying the tracking device 118, confirm the location of a user who is carrying the tracking device 118, identify the location of objects around the vehicle 102, and the like.

[0028] The vehicle bus 130 can include various communication methods available between the components of the vehicle 102 discussed herein. As some non-limiting examples, the vehicle bus 130 can include one or more of a vehicle controller area network (CAN), an Ethernet network, and a media-oriented systems transport (MOST) network. The vehicle bus 130 can also be wireless. Although a single vehicle bus 130 is shown, it should be noted that in many examples, multiple vehicle buses 130 are included, with a subset of controllers connected to each vehicle bus 130.

[0029] The user's location around the vehicle 102 may be tracked using the tracking device 118 and / or using sensors 128 of the vehicle 102. Based on these locations, the speakers 106 may be activated, and shutters 108 of the vehicle 102 may be opened or closed or positioned to direct sound to the user's detected location.

[0030] To determine the correct settings for the speakers 106 and shutters 108, the vehicle 102 can store a location map 132. The location map 132 can include information indicating how each shutter 108 in various positions will affect the sound emitted from the speakers 106 (such as in terms of loudness, clarity, pitch, resolution, or other relevant sound quality metrics for potential listeners at different distances around the vehicle 102). Given the user's location, the location map 132 can be accessed to determine the correct shutter 108 and speaker 106 settings to direct the sound to the detected user's location. Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle 102 itself can be rotated, oriented, and / or moved to direct the sound to the detected user's location.

[0031] Figure 2An example test setup 200 is shown for characterizing a vehicle 102 to create a location map 132. Vehicle 102 includes multiple speakers 106 and multiple shutters 108. As shown in the example vehicle 102, a first speaker 106A is located in the front trunk with first shutter 108A, a second speaker 106B is located in the driver's-side door shutter 108B, a third speaker 106C is located in the passenger-side door shutter 108C, a fourth speaker 106D is located in the driver's-side second-row door shutter 108D, a fifth speaker 106E is located in the passenger-side second-row door shutter 108E, and a sixth speaker 106F is located in the rear cargo area near the rear liftgate closure 108F. A sunroof shutter 108G is also located in the cabin of vehicle 102. It should be noted that this is only one example of a vehicle 102, and vehicles 102 with more, fewer, and / or differently positioned speakers 106 and shutters 108 are possible. For example, if the vehicle 102 is a standard cab pickup truck or a coupe, the vehicle 102 may have only two doors. Alternatively, if the vehicle 102 is a minivan, the vehicle 102 may have one or more sliding side doors.

[0032] One or more test locations 202 can be used to characterize the sound output of the speaker 106 for various open and closed positions of the shutter 108. As shown, test locations 202A to 202L are placed in an ellipse around the vehicle 102 at a given distance. A signal of a predefined power can be applied to the speaker 106, and a test device can be used to measure the sound pressure at different positions of the test location 202 (for illustration, the example test location 202 for measurement is represented as a microphone). In the example, the tracking device 118 itself can be used as the test device. In another example, one or more other mobile devices can be used as the test device. In yet another example, one or more microphones or other sound capture devices available in a factory or audio laboratory can be used as the test device. It should also be noted that although multiple test locations 202 are shown, a single test device or multiple test devices can be used and / or moved to various different test locations 202 to perform the test.

[0033] The captured information can be used to characterize the sound output of the vehicle 102. For example, given one or more predefined power levels to each speaker 106 when the shutter 108 is closed, the frequency response of the vehicle 102 can be captured at various test positions 202. The measurement can then be repeated for each speaker 106 after varying the position of the shutter 108.

[0034] For example, a series of measurements may be taken for each speaker 106B, 106C individually and / or in combination with the driver and passenger door closers 108B, 108C in the closed position and the sunroof closer 108G in a number of different positions. Figure 2 ). Similarly, a series of measurements can be taken for each speaker 106B, 106C, individually and / or in combination with the closed sunroof shutter 108G and one of the driver's side door shutter 108B, passenger's side door shutter 108C, driver's side second-row door shutter 108D, passenger's side second-row door shutter 108E, rear liftgate shutter 108F, etc., in a plurality of different positions. This process can be repeated for any and all different combinations of speaker 106 and / or shutter 108 positions (e.g., open sunroof, multiple doors open, liftgate open, and single door) as desired. The process can also be repeated after varying the distance between the test location 202 and the vehicle 102 to similarly provide information about the distance.

[0035] Because the position map 132 indicates the sound output at different locations around the vehicle 102 given different combinations of speaker 106 power levels and closure 108 positions, the position map 132 can be used to look up a specific power level at a location around the vehicle 102, thereby retrieving the settings of speaker 106 power levels and closure 108 positions to achieve that result.

[0036] In some examples, the information in the location map 132 can be extrapolated based on identities, such as doubling the distance reduces the sound level by 6 dB (e.g., to reduce the number of distances measured from the vehicle 102). Thus, settings can also be inferred based on the location map 132, even though those specific settings have not yet been recorded to the location map 132. In another example, a machine learning model can be trained based on a combination of speaker 106 power levels and shutter 108 positions with ground truth recorded sound levels to infer the correct settings for speaker 106 power levels and shutter 108 positions to use in various situations.

[0037] In some examples, the speakers 106 may include additional speakers 106 connected to a power outlet of the vehicle 102. In such cases, performance metrics of the additional speakers 106 may be transmitted to the vehicle 102 (e.g., via the wireless transceiver 116) to allow the vehicle 102 to more accurately control the loudness and other parameters of the additional speakers 106. The user may also specify which built-in and / or additional speakers 106 will be active to limit energy consumption. If the additional speakers 106 are to be used, the location of the additional speakers 106 may also be indicated to the vehicle 102, for example, based on which power outlet the additional speakers 106 are connected to, based on user input regarding the orientation of the additional speakers 106, and the like.

[0038] Figure 3 An example 300 of the operation of the system 100 for providing directional audio features to multiple tracking devices 118 at locations around a vehicle 102 is shown. As shown, a first tracking device 118A (e.g., a key fob) is located in front of the vehicle 102, a second tracking device 118B (e.g., a phone) is located on the driver's side of the vehicle 102, and a third tracking device 118C (e.g., another phone) is located on the passenger side of the vehicle 102.

[0039] In an example, the locations of the tracking devices 118A, 118B, 118C can be identified by the vehicle 102 using the wireless transceiver 116. This can be accomplished using various techniques, such as wireless trilateration, ultrasonic audio trilateration, receiving GNSS coordinates from the tracking devices 118 (at least for a coarse position fix, depending on the available GNSS accuracy), using the sensors 128 of the vehicle 102 to recognize an image of the user, etc.

[0040] Sound can be provided to the user holding the tracking device 118 based on various settings of the vehicle 102. In an example, the owner of the vehicle 102 can request the vehicle 102 to play a song, play audio from a sports game, play streamed media content, play a streamed radio station, play a broadcast radio station, etc. This can be done, for example, using the HMI of the vehicle 102, via a request to the vehicle 102 from the user's smartphone (e.g., and the user's tracking device 118), etc. The user can also set the volume to be used for the reproduced audio. This can again be set via the HMI of the vehicle 102 (such as a volume knob) or via a smartphone. Once set, the user can walk around the vehicle 102, and the vehicle 102 can track the user and direct the sound to the user's location.

[0041] As shown, vehicle 102 is tracking three different tracking devices 118A, 118B, and 118C. In one example, vehicle 102 can use the speaker 106 (or speakers 106) closest to each tracking device 118 to provide audio to that location. For example, vehicle 102 can use speaker 106A and adjust the position of shutter 108A to provide audio to the location of tracking device 118A, vehicle 102 can use speaker 106B and adjust the position of shutter 108B to provide audio to the location of tracking device 118B, and vehicle 102 can use speaker 106C and adjust the position of shutter 108C to provide audio to the location of tracking device 118C.

[0042] It should be noted that different audio content may be provided to each of the users because each of the different tracking devices 118A, 118B, 118C is receiving audio from a different speaker 106. For example, speaker 106A may provide first audio content to a first sound zone 302A surrounding the location of tracking device 118A, speaker 106B may provide second audio content to a second sound zone 302B surrounding the location of tracking device 118B, and speaker 106C may provide third audio content to a third sound zone 302C surrounding the location of tracking device 118C.

[0043] In another example, vehicle 102 can provide audio content to one user while using the remaining speakers 106 to provide white noise to mask the audio content from other potential listeners, providing privacy for the user who wishes to hear the audio content. For example, the user of tracking device 118B may wish to use vehicle 102 to receive audio from a confidential meeting or audio file. In such a scenario, speaker 106B and shutter 108B can be used to direct the media content to the location of tracking device 118B, while the remaining speakers 106A, 106C, and 106D can be used to provide white noise around vehicle 102 to mask the media content being provided to the location of tracking device 118B. For example, speaker 106A can be positioned to provide white noise to the location of tracking device 118A in first sound zone 302A, speaker 106C can be positioned to provide white noise to the location of tracking device 118C in third sound zone 302C, and speaker 106F can be generally positioned to provide white noise to the surrounding environment in fourth sound zone 302D without a specific identified target.

[0044] Figure 4 An example process 400 is shown for characterizing the vehicle 102 to create the location map 132. In an example, the process 400 may be performed by one or more controllers of the vehicle 102 in the context of the system 100.

[0045] At operation 402, vehicle 102 captures measurements of speakers 106 of vehicle 102. For example, various test devices, such as tracking device 118, microphones, etc., are used to obtain these measurements at different test locations 202 around the exterior of vehicle 102. A signal of a predefined power can be applied to speaker 106, and the test devices can be used to measure the sound pressure at different test locations 202. The captured information can be used to characterize the acoustic output of vehicle 102. For example, given one or more predefined power levels applied to each speaker 106 when shutter 108 is closed, the frequency response of vehicle 102 can be recorded. This measurement can then be repeated for each speaker 106 after changing the position of shutter 108.

[0046] At operation 404, the vehicle 102 constructs a location map 132. Based on the captured measurements, the location map 132 may include a mapping of sound output at different locations around the vehicle 102, given different combinations of speaker 106 power levels and shutter 108 positions. Thus, the location map 132 may be useful in allowing the vehicle 102 to find settings for speaker 106 and shutter 108 positions to direct sound to the user's location at a predefined loudness. In some examples, the information in the location map 132 may be extrapolated based on identities, such as that doubling the distance reduces the sound level by 6dB. Thus, settings may also be inferred based on the location map 132, even though those specific settings have not yet been recorded in the location map 132. In another example, a machine learning model may be trained based on a combination of speaker 106 power levels and shutter 108 positions with ground truth recorded sound levels to infer the correct settings for speaker 106 power levels and shutter 108 positions to use in various situations.

[0047] In yet another example, for the additional speaker 106, the vehicle 102 may wirelessly receive a representation of the properties of the additional speaker 106 from the additional speaker 106. Alternatively, the vehicle 102 may receive an identifier for the model of the additional speaker 106 and may download or otherwise access the representation of the properties of the additional speaker 106 based on the identifier.

[0048] At operation 406, the position map 132 is stored to the vehicle 102. In one example, the position map 132 may be stored to the vehicle body controller 112. In another example, the position map 132 may be stored to another controller, such as the audio system 104 itself. After operation 406, the process 400 ends.

[0049] Variations of process 400 are possible. In another example, the capture portion of process 400 can be performed by a computing device external to vehicle 102, and the results can be loaded into vehicle 102 for later use. This loading can be performed during the build of vehicle 102, via an over-the-air update, etc.

[0050] Figure 5 An example process 500 is shown for providing directional audio features to tracking devices 118 at locations around a vehicle 102. In an example, the process 500 may be performed by one or more controllers of the vehicle 102 in the context of the system 100.

[0051] At operation 502, the vehicle 102 sets up media content for the vehicle 102 to play. In an example, the owner of the vehicle 102 can request that the vehicle 102 play a song, play audio from a sports game, play streamed media content, play a streamed radio station, play a broadcast radio station, etc. This can be done, for example, using the HMI of the vehicle 102, via a request to the vehicle 102 from a user's smartphone (e.g., and also the user's tracking device 118), etc. The user can also set the volume to be used for the reproduced audio. This can again be set via the HMI of the vehicle 102 (such as a volume knob) or via a smartphone. Once set, the user can walk around the vehicle 102, and the vehicle 102 can track the user and direct the sound to the user's location.

[0052] At operation 504, the vehicle 102 tracks the location of the user. In an example, the location of the tracking device 118 can be identified by the vehicle 102 using the wireless transceiver 116. This can be accomplished using various techniques, such as trilateration, receiving GNSS coordinates from the tracking device 118, using the sensors 128 of the vehicle 102 to recognize an image of the user, and the like.

[0053] At operation 506 , the vehicle 102 utilizes the location map 132 to identify the speaker 106 and closure 108 settings of the vehicle 102 to play the media content to the identified location of the tracking device 118 .

[0054] At operation 508, the vehicle 102 applies the settings to the speakers 106 and shutters 108 of the vehicle 102. Thus, the vehicle 102 applies power levels to the plurality of speakers 106 and positioning to the plurality of shutters 108 to direct the sound output from the speakers 106 to the location of the user. After operation 508, the process 500 ends.

[0055] Variations of process 500 are possible. In some examples, vehicle 102 may utilize air suspension to tilt vehicle 102 to improve the orientation of speaker 106 relative to the location of tracking device 118. In another example, vehicle 102 may utilize semi-autonomous driving and / or tank turn steering functionality to reposition and / or rotate vehicle 102 so that a more powerful speaker 106 faces the listener, for example, in the event of a loud audio request. In yet another example, vehicle 102 may be maneuvered or repositioned fully autonomously, semi-autonomously, via suggested remote control actions executed using commands from the user's tracking device 118, and / or by providing visual indications and / or instructions of the desired position to a display of vehicle 102 on the user's tracking device 118. These actions may be performed in conjunction with or in lieu of movement of shutter 108 at operation 506.

[0056] In another variation, one or more of the shutters 108 may be manually controlled. In such variations, those shutters 108 may not be maneuverable by the vehicle 102. In such examples, a position map 132 may still be defined to account for these variations. The vehicle 102 may then select the sound level to be applied to the speakers 106 and the direction in which to open the automatic shutters 108 (if any) based on the position map 132.

[0057] In another variation, one or more of the openings and closing members 108 can be hinged in a variety of ways. In such variations, the openings and closing members 108 can be manipulated by the vehicle 102 and / or can otherwise be positioned in multiple directions. For example, a station wagon-style tailgate can be employed, hinged on the sides to open as a door and also hinged at the bottom to open as a tailgate. In another example, the vehicle doors can be hinged on either side to open on the left or right. In yet another example, the doors can be hinged to open downward as a tailgate, or in an alternative, in the style of two barn doors hinged on opposite sides. In such examples, a position mapping 132 can be defined to account for these variations. Then, in addition to selecting which openings and closing members 108 to use, the degree to which the openings and closing members 108 are opened, and the sound level to be applied to the speakers 106, the vehicle 102 can also select in which direction the openings and closing members 108 are opened.

[0058] In an example, the vehicle 102 can be configured to allow audio connections from third parties. In one non-limiting example, police or other priority users may be able to send a message to the vehicle 102, for example via the wireless transceiver 116, to commandeer the audio system 104 of the vehicle 102 for various purposes. The vehicle 102 may also close certain openings 108 and / or warn the user if an unauthorized individual is approaching the vehicle 102 and / or a storm is approaching.

[0059] In another example, in addition to the directional audio feature, the exterior lighting 114 of the vehicle 102 can also be utilized. In an example, the exterior lighting 114 can be synchronized with the media content being played to provide additional atmosphere. For example, the exterior lighting 114 can be configured to operate as a level meter so that the lighting intensity and / or color corresponds to the relative loudness of the media content being played. In such an example, the lighting intensity increases for louder sounds and decreases (or vice versa) for quieter sounds and / or the color changes (e.g., a lower frequency light (such as red) for the loudest sounds, a higher frequency light (such as green or blue) for the quietest sounds, or some other combination of color changes). In another example, the exterior lighting 114 can be aimed toward the tracking device 118 to allow observation of the location of the user listening to the media content. In some cases, this feature may be available if the vehicle 102 has at least a minimum threshold state of charge, otherwise it may be disabled to avoid draining the battery of the vehicle 102 due to the power requirements inherent in the lighting.

[0060] In yet another example, directional audio features can be incorporated to provide key-off load optimization. For example, audio media can be converted from a higher-channel representation to a lower-channel representation depending on which speakers 106 are being utilized. For example, surround sound audio can be converted to two-channel stereo or mono to enable only the most efficient speakers 106 to contribute sound without sacrificing audio quality, such as for tracks that rely on stereo to introduce different instruments / voices to the left and right.

[0061] In another example of key-off load optimization, the vehicle's 102 conventional lighting operating mode can be altered to reduce the electrical load during use of the directional audio feature. For example, during daylight hours, exterior and cabin door lighting can be disabled by default. During post-sunset conditions, the vehicle 102 can determine an overall lighting scheme through a load arbitration process to allow the user to receive some light while minimizing the load on the electrical system.

[0062] In some cases, the feature usage duration can be communicated to the user via the vehicle's 102 HMI or via an application installed on the user's tracking device 118. The user interface can allow the user to configure the use of the directional audio feature based on the duration of its expected use. For example, the user interface can indicate one or more of the following based on a measurement of the battery state of charge and an estimate of the power consumption of the desired lighting and audio features: a calculated number of minutes that full volume capability plus music-synchronized lighting can be supported given the current battery charge, a calculated number of minutes that full volume capability without lighting can be supported given the current battery charge, a calculated number of minutes that the set volume capability with or without music-synchronized lighting can be supported given the current battery charge, etc. In another possibility, the user interface can support an automatic mode that allows the user to specify a desired duration of operation of the directional sound feature, and the vehicle 102 can start with full functionality for a specific time and gradually stop over time to meet the desired duration without falling below a minimum threshold state of charge.

[0063] The vehicle 102 may also utilize one or more additional load optimization features. For example, the vehicle 102 may disable the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system when using the directional audio feature. In another example, the vehicle 102 may disable all HMI chimes when using the directional audio feature. In another example, the vehicle 102 may set all in-vehicle HMI screens and lighting to a minimum brightness level or turn off (e.g., via touch wakeup) when using the directional audio feature. In another example, the vehicle 102 may slow down sampling of the door ajar circuit to save power when using the directional audio feature. In another example, the vehicle 102 may dim or turn off the cabin access lights and / or turn off the cabin lights, except for the access lights on or near the open doors, when using the directional audio feature.

[0064] In another example of a variation on the use of the directional audio feature, the vehicle 102 can rebalance the audio to the speakers 106 to help optimally project a stereo sound field. For example, if the sound is projected from the open driver's door, the driver's door speaker 106 can be set to deliver the sound at a lower sound pressure level (SPL) than the closed far passenger door. Otherwise, the stereo effect from the content may be lost.

[0065] In another example, the speakers 106 may include body panel speakers 106, which may be employed with an exciter mounted to the rear surface of a body panel and configured to project sound waves through the body panel itself. In such an example, a body panel in the direction of an interested viewer would be excited to project sound in that direction.

[0066] In another example, gesture recognition can be implemented by vehicle 102 using a directional sound feature to provide a touchless user interface. This interface can be available to the user of tracked device 118. In another example, the interface can be open and available to people who wish or do not wish to be exposed to sound while passing through or otherwise within the area of ​​vehicle 102. For example, gestures that can be used to control vehicle 102 can include, for example, a first gesture for increasing volume (e.g., raising a user's hand), a second gesture for decreasing volume (e.g., lowering a user's hand), and a third gesture for reducing a source of white noise (e.g., placing a finger in a person's ear). This gesture interface can be implemented using data captured by vehicle 102's external sensors 128. For example, external sensors 128 can capture image data, and vehicle 102 can perform image recognition based on the captured image data to identify gestures performed by the user. In another example, UWB external sensors 128 can capture wireless device location data (e.g., wireless device location data from a user's smartwatch or other device, or even directly from the user), and gesture recognition can be performed by vehicle 102 based on the location of the device and / or user tracked via UWB.

[0067] In another example, vehicles 102 implementing directional sound features can be used as paired speakers 106. In such an approach, surrounding vehicles 102 can be used as additional speakers 106 via an application installed on a user's tracking device 118, where people can use parked vehicles 102 to act as speakers 106, for example, in exchange for tokens or other compensation. The vehicles 102 can also transmit their positions and the listener's position to each other, allowing the vehicles 102 to jointly implement a surround sound experience. For example, vehicles 102 on the left side of a parking lot can be combined to provide a left-channel output, while vehicles 102 on the right side of the parking lot can be combined to provide a right-channel output. In addition, using the positions of the vehicles 102, the vehicles 102 can synchronize their output to the target user's location (e.g., as determined via the tracking device 118) to synchronize in time with the speed of sound propagation in air based on their distance from the user, thereby creating a more immersive experience.

[0068] Figure 6 An example 600 of a computing device 602 for providing directional audio features to locations around a vehicle 102 is shown. Figure 6 And refer to Figures 1 to 5, the controller and tracking device 118 of the vehicle 102 may be examples of such a computing device 602. As shown, the computing device 602 includes a processor 604 operatively connected to a storage device 606, a network device 608, an output device 610, and an input device 612. It should be noted that this is merely an example, and computing devices 602 having more, fewer, or different components may be used.

[0069] The processor 604 may include one or more integrated circuits that implement the functionality of a central processing unit (CPU) and / or a graphics processing unit (GPU). In some examples, the processor 604 is a system on a chip (SoC) that integrates the functionality of the CPU and GPU. The SoC may optionally include other components (such as, for example, a storage device 606 and a network device 608) into a single integrated device. In other examples, the CPU and GPU are connected to each other via a peripheral connection device (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) express) or another suitable peripheral data connection. In one example, the CPU is a commercially available central processing unit that implements an instruction set, such as one of the x86, ARM, Power, or microprocessor (MIPS) instruction set families without interlocked pipeline stages.

[0070] Regardless of the details, during operation, the processor 604 executes stored program instructions retrieved from the storage device 606. The stored program instructions accordingly comprise software that controls the operation of the processor 604 to perform the operations described herein. The storage device 606 may include both non-volatile memory devices and volatile memory devices. Non-volatile memory includes solid-state memory, such as NAND flash memory, magnetic storage media, and optical storage media, or any other suitable data storage device that retains data when the system is disabled or loses power. Volatile memory includes static and dynamic random access memory (RAM), which stores program instructions and data during operation of the system 100.

[0071] The GPU may include hardware and software for displaying at least two-dimensional (2D) and optionally three-dimensional (3D) graphics to an output device 610. The output device 610 may include a graphics or visual display device, such as an electronic display screen, a projector, a printer, or any other suitable device for reproducing a graphical display. As another example, the output device 610 may include an audio device, such as a speaker or headphones. As yet another example, the output device 610 may include a tactile device, such as a mechanically elevable device, which in one example may be configured to display Braille or another physical output that can be touched to provide information to the user.

[0072] Input device 612 may include any of a variety of devices that enable computing device 602 to receive control input from a user. Examples of suitable input devices 612 that receive human interface input may include a keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch screen, microphone, graphics tablet, etc.

[0073] The network devices 608 may each include any of a variety of devices that enable the vehicle 102 and the tracking device 118 to send and / or receive data from an external device over a network. Examples of suitable network devices 608 include an Ethernet interface, a Wi-Fi transceiver, a cellular transceiver, or a Bluetooth or BLE transceiver, a UWB transceiver, or other network adapter or peripheral interconnect device that receives data from another computer or external data storage device, which may be useful for receiving large amounts of data in an efficient manner.

[0074] The process, method or algorithm disclosed herein may be delivered to / implemented by a processing device, a controller or a computer, which may include any existing programmable electronic control unit or a dedicated electronic control unit. Similarly, the process, method or algorithm may be stored as data and instructions that can be executed by a controller or a computer in many forms, including but not limited to information permanently stored on a non-writable storage medium such as a read-only memory (ROM) device and information that can be revisably stored on a writable storage medium such as a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, a compact disk (CD), a RAM device and other magnetic and optical media. The process, method or algorithm may also be implemented as a software executable object. Alternatively, the process, method or algorithm may be embodied in whole or in part using a combination of suitable hardware components or hardware, software and firmware components, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a state machine, a controller or other hardware component or device.

[0075] Although exemplary embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to describe all possible forms covered by the claims. The words used in the specification are descriptive rather than restrictive, and it should be understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. As previously mentioned, the features of the various embodiments can be combined to form additional embodiments of the present invention that may not be explicitly described or shown. Although various embodiments may have been described as providing advantages or being superior to other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, it should be recognized by those skilled in the art that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve the desired overall system properties, depending on the specific application and implementation. These properties may include, but are not limited to, strength, durability, life cycle, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. For this reason, to the extent that any embodiment is described as less than ideal than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics, these embodiments are not outside the scope of the present disclosure and may be desirable for a particular application.

[0076] With respect to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, and the like described herein, it should be understood that although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes can be practiced by performing the described steps in an order different from that described herein. It should also be understood that certain steps can be performed simultaneously, other steps can be added, or certain steps described herein can be omitted. In other words, the description of the processes herein is provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments and should in no way be construed as limiting the claims.

[0077] Therefore, it should be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Upon reading the above description, many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided will be apparent. The scope should not be determined with reference to the above description, but rather with reference to the appended claims and the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and expected that the technology discussed herein will develop in the future, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In short, it should be understood that the present application is capable of modification and variation.

[0078] All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by persons skilled in the art described herein, unless an explicit indication to the contrary is given herein. Specifically, use of singular articles such as "a," "an," "the," and "said" should be construed to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.

[0079] The Abstract of the present disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It should be understood that the Abstract will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Additionally, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This approach to the present disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as reflected in the appended claims, the inventive subject matter lies in less than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Accordingly, the appended claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

[0080] Although exemplary embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to describe all possible forms of the present invention. Rather, the terms used in the specification are descriptive rather than restrictive, and it should be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, the features of the various embodiments may be combined to form additional embodiments of the present invention.

[0081] According to the present invention, a method for providing audio to locations around a vehicle includes: storing a position map that defines information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closing members of a vehicle affects, in a plurality of positions, sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around the exterior of the vehicle; tracking the corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilizing the position map to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closing members to direct the sound output from the speakers to the corresponding position of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0082] In one aspect of the invention, the plurality of positions includes a plurality of intermediate positions between the open position and the closed position.

[0083] In one aspect of the present invention, the plurality of opening and closing members include one or more of a vehicle door, a vehicle window, a sunroof, a trunk lid, a liftgate, or a tailgate.

[0084] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes: using one or more microphones to capture measurements of sound output received from multiple speakers of a vehicle at multiple locations around the vehicle at multiple different locations of multiple openings and closures; and constructing a position map based on the measurements, so that the power levels to the multiple speakers and the positioning of the multiple openings and closures are indexed according to the multiple locations and the measurements of the sound output.

[0085] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes: training a machine learning model based on a combination of measurements of speaker power levels, switch positions, and sound output as ground truth; and using the machine learning model to infer power levels to multiple speakers and positioning of multiple switches based on the corresponding positions and desired volume levels of at least one user.

[0086] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes utilizing exterior lighting of the vehicle to operate as a level meter such that the intensity and / or color of lighting provided by the exterior lighting corresponds to the relative loudness of audio being played.

[0087] In one aspect of the invention, the at least one user includes a first user and a second user, and further includes using at least a subset of the plurality of speakers to provide white noise to a corresponding position of the second user to provide privacy for the first user.

[0088] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes detecting a gesture using a sensor of the vehicle; and adjusting a desired volume level based on the gesture.

[0089] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes repositioning the vehicle in addition to adjusting the positioning of the plurality of shutters to direct sound output from the speakers to a corresponding location of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0090] According to the present invention, a vehicle for providing audio to locations around the vehicle is provided, the vehicle having one or more controllers configured to: store a position mapping, the position mapping defining information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closing members of the vehicle affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around the exterior of the vehicle in a plurality of positions, the plurality of positions including a plurality of intermediate positions between an open position and a closed position; track the corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilize the position mapping to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closing members to direct the sound output from the speakers to the corresponding position of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0091] According to an embodiment, the plurality of opening and closing members include one or more of a door, a window, a sunroof, a trunk lid, a liftgate, or a tailgate.

[0092] According to the present invention, the one or more controllers are also configured to: use one or more microphones to capture measured values ​​of sound output received from multiple speakers of the vehicle at multiple locations around the vehicle at different positions of multiple openings and closing members; and construct a position mapping based on the measured values, so that the power levels to the multiple speakers and the positioning of the multiple openings and closing members are indexed according to the measured values ​​of the multiple locations and sound outputs.

[0093] According to an embodiment, the one or more controllers are further configured to: train a machine learning model based on a combination of speaker power levels, opening and closing positions, and measurements of sound output as ground truth; and use the machine learning model to infer power levels to multiple speakers and positioning of multiple openings and closing members based on the corresponding positions and desired volume levels of at least one user.

[0094] According to an embodiment, the one or more controllers are further configured to utilize exterior lighting of the vehicle to operate as a level meter such that the intensity and / or color of lighting provided by the exterior lighting corresponds to the relative loudness of the audio being played.

[0095] According to an embodiment, the at least one user includes a first user and a second user, and the one or more controllers are further configured to use at least a subset of the plurality of speakers to provide white noise to a corresponding position of the second user to provide privacy for the first user.

[0096] According to an embodiment, the one or more controllers are further configured to: detect a gesture using sensors of the vehicle; and adjust the desired volume level based on the gesture.

[0097] According to the present invention, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, which includes instructions for providing audio to locations around a vehicle, and the instructions, when executed by one or more controllers of the vehicle, cause the vehicle to perform operations, the operations including: storing a position map, the position map defining information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closing members of the vehicle affects the sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around the exterior of the vehicle in a plurality of positions, the plurality of positions including a plurality of intermediate positions between an open position and a closed position; tracking the corresponding position of at least one user outside the vehicle; and utilizing the position map to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of openings and closing members to direct the sound output from the speakers to the corresponding position of the at least one user at a desired volume level.

[0098] According to the present invention, the one or more controllers are also configured to: use one or more microphones to capture measured values ​​of sound output received from multiple speakers of the vehicle at multiple locations around the vehicle at different positions of multiple openings and closing members; and construct a position mapping based on the measured values, so that the power levels to the multiple speakers and the positioning of the multiple openings and closing members are indexed according to the measured values ​​of the multiple locations and sound outputs.

[0099] According to an embodiment, the one or more controllers are further configured to: train a machine learning model based on a combination of speaker power levels, opening and closing positions, and measurements of sound output as ground truth; and use the machine learning model to infer power levels to multiple speakers and positioning of multiple openings and closing members based on the corresponding positions and desired volume levels of at least one user.

[0100] According to an embodiment, the one or more controllers are further configured to perform one or more of the following: utilizing the vehicle's exterior lighting as a level meter such that the intensity and / or color of the lighting provided by the exterior lighting corresponds to the relative loudness of the audio being played; when the at least one user includes a first user and a second user, using at least a subset of the plurality of speakers to provide white noise to the second user's corresponding position to provide privacy for the first user; and / or adjusting the desired volume level based on gestures captured using sensors of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for providing audio to locations around a vehicle, the method comprising: storing a position map defining information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closures of a vehicle, in a plurality of positions, affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle; tracking a location of a user outside of the vehicle; as well as The position mapping is utilized to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of shutters to direct sound output from the speakers to the location of the user at a desired volume level. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of positions includes a plurality of intermediate positions between the open position and the closed position. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of opening and closing members include one or more of a door, a window, a sunroof, a trunk lid, a liftgate, or a tailgate.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: capturing, using one or more microphones, measurements of acoustic output received from the plurality of speakers of the vehicle at a plurality of locations around the vehicle at a plurality of different locations of the plurality of openings and closures; as well as The position map is constructed based on the measurements such that the power levels to the plurality of speakers and the positioning of the plurality of shutters are indexed according to the plurality of positions and the measurements of the sound output.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: training a machine learning model based on a combination of said measurements of speaker power levels, open and closed positions, and said sound output as ground truth; as well as The machine learning model is used to infer the power levels to the plurality of speakers and the positioning of the plurality of shutters based on the position of the user and the desired volume level.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising utilizing exterior lighting of the vehicle to operate as a level meter such that the intensity and / or color of lighting provided by the exterior lighting corresponds to the relative loudness of audio being played.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising using at least a subset of the plurality of speakers to provide white noise to a location of a second mobile device to provide privacy for the user of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: capturing an image of the gesture using a sensor of the vehicle; as well as The desired volume level is adjusted based on the gesture.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising repositioning the vehicle in addition to adjusting the positioning of the plurality of openings and closures to direct the sound output from the speaker to the location of the user at the desired volume level.

10. A vehicle for providing audio to locations surrounding the vehicle, the vehicle comprising: One or more controllers configured to: storing a position map defining information indicating how each of a plurality of openings and closing members of the vehicle, in a plurality of positions, affects sound emitted from a plurality of speakers of the vehicle at different locations around an exterior of the vehicle, the plurality of positions including a plurality of intermediate positions between an open position and a closed position; tracking the location of a user outside the vehicle; and The position mapping is utilized to apply power levels to the plurality of speakers and positioning to the plurality of shutters to direct sound output from the speakers to the location of the user at a desired volume level.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the plurality of opening and closing members include one or more of a door, a window, a sunroof, a trunk lid, a liftgate, or a tailgate.

12. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: using one or more microphones to capture measurements of sound output received from the plurality of speakers of the vehicle at a plurality of locations around the vehicle at a plurality of different locations of the plurality of openings and closures; and The position map is constructed based on the measurements such that the power levels to the plurality of speakers and the positioning of the plurality of shutters are indexed according to the plurality of positions and the measurements of the sound output.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: training a machine learning model based on a combination of said measurements of speaker power levels, open and closed positions, and said sound output as ground truth; and The machine learning model is used to infer the power levels to the plurality of speakers and the positioning of the plurality of shutters based on the position of the user and the desired volume level.

14. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to utilize exterior lighting of the vehicle to operate as a level meter such that the intensity and / or color of lighting provided by the exterior lighting corresponds to the relative loudness of audio being played.

15. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the one or more controllers are further programmed to do one or more of the following: using at least a subset of the plurality of speakers to provide white noise to a location of a second mobile device to provide privacy for the user of the mobile device; or A gesture is detected using sensors of the vehicle and the desired volume level is adjusted based on the gesture.

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