A peripheral device

Abstract

A system comprises a peripheral device 10 connected to a computer 12. The peripheral device comprises a case 14, a display device 16, a control component 18 located within the case, arranged to contro

Description

This invention relates to a peripheral device connected to a computer. In the age of the open plan office and home working, people frequently take meetings at their desk, using conference software such as Zoom or other applications. These are different from meetings previously, as often they are between more than two people, meaning that people spend more time sitting in silence with, for example headphones on, looking at a screen rather than actively talking. The main issue with this way of working is that, in open plan offices and noisy home environments, many workers may also spend the majority of their non-meeting work time using headphones, while looking at a computer screen. Especially with the practice of screen sharing of documents and presentations, it can be virtually impossible to tell when someone is in a meeting, rather than simply working normally at their computer. This can lead to disruption, as one or more members who are actually in a meeting will continually have to pause their meeting to say: “I’m in a meeting”, which can result in the person in question breaking focus and having to request a recap in the meeting. It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art. According to the present invention, there is provided a system comprising a peripheral device connected to a computer, the device comprising a case, a display device mounted on or in the case, a control component located within the case, connected to the display device, and arranged to control the operation of the display device, and a communication component connected to the control component; the computer including a microphone, a monitoring component arranged to detect access to the microphone by a module within the computer, and a communication unit, connected to the communication component of the peripheral device, and arranged to inform the communication component when rne monitoring component has detected access to the microphone by a module within the computer. Owing to the invention, it is possible to provide a peripheral device that is able to alert both colleagues, family and friends that a user is in a meeting or otherwise using their computer microphone, which helps to eliminate the known issue with users being disturbed when they are in a meeting, while also not creating a requirement to connect to any specific software application(s) that are being run by the user, such as meeting software and the like. The peripheral device is designed to sit either alongside the user’s computer or on top of a monitor. The peripheral device’s intended use is to allow others in an office or home environment to easily identify when the person using the computer is, for example, on a call or in a meeting. This includes any workbased programs such as MS Teams or Zoom, but also in-house or recreational software (such as twitch or discord). The peripheral device includes a display device which is preferably printed acrylic plastic with one or more lights set behind, and behind the printed plastic preferably sits a printed circuit board, the main components of which are LEDs, a chip and a port. The acrylic acts as a diffuser allowing a nice even glow from preferably four LEDs. The case is preferably in two halves formed of plastic which are held together with two metal hex screws to prevent opening without the correct tools. This main body preferably sits on a hinging clasp that secures the peripheral device, for example to the top of a computer monitor. This clasp can be clamped to the main body via a Philips head screw to enable removal and tightening depending as desired by the user. This join enables the whole case of the peripheral device to be angled to be as visible as possible to those who may need to check if the user can be interrupted. The operation of the peripheral device is preferably driven by a monitoring component, such as a piece of background code that, for example, runs on Windows. This monitoring component, once installed, will open itself when the computer is started and run in the background. This monitoring component is designed to require minimal computer resources to ensure the peripheral device does not impact the running of the user s compurer. i ne monitoring component also requires minimal permissions and data from the computer so those users who are security or privacy conscious can use the peripheral device without being overly concerned in this regard, since there is no security impact. Rather than following the example of other prior art products, the monitoring component does not monitor the programs used by the computer or require access to calendar or productivity applications. The monitoring component simply monitors access to the computer’s microphone. Once the monitoring component has registered and connected to the peripheral device, the monitoring component checks for a computer device that has been assigned as a microphone. Once this has been discovered the monitoring component then checks that device’s current status. If the computer’s microphone is active, then the monitoring component sends the command to the peripheral device to activate its display device. The monitoring component then pauses and periodically checks again. Should the computer’s microphone no longer be in use the monitoring component sends a command to switch the display device off. The crucial part of this is that provided a program such as an active Zoom window has been opened the computer and by extension this monitoring component will recognize the microphone as in use, so updates or staff calls where a user does not speak but which are still carried out over these applications will still cause the peripheral device to activate and clearly show the user should not be interrupted. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system comprising a computer and a peripheral device, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the peripheral device of Figure 1, Figure 3a is a front view of the peripheral device, Figure 3b is side view of the peripheral device, Figure 4 is an exploded view of the components or rne penpnerai device, Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method of operating the peripheral device, and Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method of identifying a connected peripheral device. Figure 1 shows a system comprising a peripheral device 10 connected to a computer 12, which here is laptop computer. The peripheral device 10 comprises a case 14, a display device 16 mounted on or in the case 14, a control component 18 located within the case 14, connected to the display device 16, and arranged to control the operation of display device 16, and a communication component 20 connected to the control component 18. The computer 12 includes a microphone 22, a monitoring component 24 arranged to detect access to the microphone 22 by a module 26 within the computer 12, and a communication unit 28 connected to the monitoring component 24. The computer 12 includes further components, as is conventional in such devices, which are not shown here for ease of understanding. The communication unit 28 of the computer 12 is connected to the communication component 20 of the peripheral device 10. The communication unit 28 of the computer 12 is arranged to inform the communication component 20 of the peripheral device 10 when the monitoring component 24 has detected access to the microphone 22 by a module 26 within the computer 12. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the computer 12 and peripheral device 10 are shown as being connected over a wired connection 30, but equally the two devices 10 and 12 could be connected via a wireless connection such as Bluetooth. A standard connection technology such as USB could be used to connect the two devices 10 and 12 together. The purpose of the peripheral device 10 is to inform people who are in location of the computer 12 that the user of the computer 12 is highly likely to be in situation from which they do not wish to be disturbed. This could be, for example, that the user of the computer 12 is currently in a meeting using a well-known technology such as Google Meets or MS Teams, it me user or me computer 12 is wearing headphones and not currently speaking, then it will not necessarily be obvious to somebody observing the user that they are presently in such a meeting. The peripheral device 10, via the display device 14 of the peripheral device 10, will display a message or a warning light, indicating that the user of the computer 12 should not be disturbed. A perspective view of one embodiment of the peripheral device 10 is shown in Figure 2. The display device 16 is a sign “ON AIR” at the front of the case 14 and a hinge clamp 32 is provided fixed to the lower side of the case 14. The peripheral device 10 has a number of advantages. In order to operate, the peripheral device 10 needs to check only one element of the operation of the computer 12, namely whether the microphone 22 of the computer 12 has been accessed at all. The simple coding needed to perform this check makes the peripheral device 10 far more energy efficient, since by only checking one variable and taking a pause in-between checks, the computer power required to run this program is kept extremely low. The simplicity of the peripheral device 10 makes the peripheral device 10 intuitive and easy to use. Once the necessary code is installed on the computer 12, the user’s part is finished. There is no need for the user of the computer 12, to enter meetings into other apps or calendars, in order to get the peripheral device 10 to function. If a user enters a meeting, then the peripheral device 10 will function. The peripheral device 10 is more adaptable when compared to existing devices, as the device 10 does not need to identify the software using the microphone 22, in order to be activated. This means, for example, that niche software or random use cases are captured by the peripheral device 10 and do not cause operational problems. Although common meeting systems used on computers, such as Google Meets, MS Teams and Zoom, are very widely used in the office environment, there are many other different meeting and calling programs and apps that can be used within the desktop environment. The peripheral device 10 will work with all of the different types of meeting software etc., as the peripheral device 10 does not need to connect directly to any program being run by the computer 12. The monitoring component 24 which is present on the computer 12 simply detects access ro rne micropnone 22. The peripheral device 10 is also intuitive for colleagues orthose sharing the space with the user of the computer 12. Existing devices that use more complex inputs will result in times when they will activate, when the user can in fact be approached. For example, an existing device that is pulling data from a calendar will activate or stay activated erroneously when a meeting set to an hour finishes early, or when someone schedules their lunch break, or a cancelled meeting says cancelled in the title but still exists in the calendar. Conversely, on existing devices, any unscheduled calls or meetings will not activate these devices. This will lead to people not trusting these devices, therefore leading to them checking if they are accurate, which will effectively slowly render these existing devices useless. The peripheral device 10 operates in a simple and straightforward manner, which is that if the display device 16 is on, the person who is using the computer 12 is in a program that is using their microphone 22 and should not be interrupted without good cause. The peripheral device 10 also has security advantages in that by only checking the audio session, the peripheral device 10 has no need for higher function checks such as microphone content, calendar content, or other functions within the computer 12. The peripheral device 10 preferably uses code that is designed to not require frequent updates using long standing functions in operating systems such as Windows. This means the code does not have the functionality to update itself or any way to connect to the internet making the code (once installed) extremely secure. There are many different use cases for the peripheral device 10, essentially any times when the user might be using a microphone 22 on a computer 12 and wishes for people to know before they are interrupted. Thes use cases include Twitch or other PC based streaming services, gaming or chatting with friends over PC based apps such as Discord, home or workplace recording of audio, workplace meetings, homeworking meetings, online lessons or schooling and call centres or customer facing support. The peripheral device 10 has a number of advanrages over existing solutions. For example, less data is needed, since many existing devices that currently aim to solve this issue require a companywide adoption as they scrape data from a user’s calendar to function. This not only means that existing devices cannot realistically be introduced at a personal level without high level approval, but also makes them vulnerable to impromptu or unscheduled meetings. Existing devices have over complicated their approach which results in the operation of such device less intuitive, attractive and useful to the user. For example, when an existing device has too many outputs on a display this will alert a user that they are in a meeting, but other people looking from a distance will not be so discerning. The problem with adding more functionality to such a device (for example by using multiple lights) is that false positives occur, cancelled meetings trigger the device or a user will open a communication software application to schedule a meeting and the software light illuminates. The inverse problem can also occur, impromptu meetings trigger the device, but if the user does not use a camera, then some of the lights will stay dark causing an observer to feel they can interrupt. With existing devices, it is basic human behaviour that if someone cannot trust something entirely then they won’t trust it at all. Colleagues will want to “just check” that a user us indeed in a meeting because of that one time the device did not work properly. Multiplied across a whole office these devices will barely reduce the amount of interruptions. The peripheral device 10 is simple and binary. The display device 16 is either on or off, and therefore there is no confusion about the status being indicated by the device 10. The peripheral device 10 relies on one key function, the audio session to ensure both false positives and negatives are impossible. If the display device 16 is on, then the microphone 22 is in use by a program, if the display device 16 is off then the microphone 22 is not in use. Figure 3a shows a front view of the peripheral device 10 and Figure 3b shows a side view of the peripheral device 10. The display device 16 is provided at the front of the case 14, in this embodiment of the peripheral device 10. The hinge clamp 32 is connected to the underside of the case 14 and is comprised of two separate parts that are connecteo oy a nmge ano moveable relative to each other about the hinge. The hinge clamp 32 allows the peripheral device 10 to be mounted in a suitable place, for example on top of a display device that forms part of the computer 12. Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the components of the peripheral device 10. The case 14 is comprised of two separate components, a top 14a and a base 14b which can be snap fitted together. A circuit board 34 is present inside the case 14 and provides the functionality that includes the control component 18 and the communication component 20 of the peripheral device 10. The hinge clamp 32 is connected to the underside of the case 14 and is comprised of two separate parts 32a and 32b that are connected to form a hinge. The display device 16 is a printed acrylic slide that is backlit to provide the necessary visual output from the peripheral device 10. The display device 16 can also be configured to illuminate in both directions, front and back. In this arrangement, the case 14 has two acrylic slides 16 that form opposite sides, with the provision of the necessary light either behind both slides or a single set of lights in-between the two slides 16. Preferably, the circuit board 34 is located in-between the two acrylic slides 16, each acrylic slide 16 being backlit by the one or more light sources mounted on the circuit board 34. Figure 5 is a flowchart that shows how the peripheral device 10 is operated. The process begins when a user starts up their computer 12. At this point a check is made to ensure that the monitoring component 24 has been entered as a program that is launched by the computer 12 at start up. If this is not the case, then the process branches to enter the monitoring component 24 as a program that is to be launched at computer startup and the process is then returned to the main thread. The next step in the process is to check if the peripheral device 10 (referred to as a MicLight in the flowchart) is connected. This process is described in more detail in the flowchart of Figure 6. If the peripheral device 10 is not connected, then a wait time of 30 seconds is indicated and the process loops back to make again the check to see if the peripheral device 10 is connected to the computer 12. Once the process has determined that the peripnerai device iu is connected to the computer 12, then a check is made to see if the microphone 22 is connected to the computer 12. If the microphone 22 is not connected then a wait time of 30 seconds is indicated and the process loops back to make again the check to see if the microphone 22 is connected to the computer 12. If the microphone 22 is connected, then a check is made to see if the microphone 22 is in use. If the microphone 22 is not in use, then the peripheral device 10 is turned off (turning off the display device 16). If the microphone 22 is in use however, then the peripheral device 10 is turned on (turning on the display device 16). After both of these steps, the process performs a further wait of 30 seconds and moves to the check to see if the microphone 22 is still connected. If not, then the process returns to the main thread as indicated. If the microphone 22 is still connected, then the process moves to check that the peripheral device 10 is still connected. If yes, then the process will return to the check box to check if the microphone 22 is still in use. If no, then the process returns to the main thread as indicated. In this way, a very lightweight background process is used by the computer 12 to ensure that the peripheral device 10 is turned on and off as required. The user of the computer 12 does not need to take any specific actions, as the program is launched within the computer 12 at startup and runs as a background process that monitors access to the microphone 22 within the computer 12. Very little computer resources are consumed by the management of the monitoring required to detect that access has been made to the microphone 22 and this is all that is needed to cause the peripheral device 10 to be activated, with the display device 16 of the peripheral device 10 being turned on. Figure 6 shows a flowchart that provides more detail in relation to the finding of the peripheral device 10 by the computer 12. In this process, the first step is for the background program being run by computer 12 to obtain a list of active COM ports. This is followed by the sending of an identity check to the current COM port. After this step, a check is made to ascertain if the correct authentication has been returned from the COM port being checked. If yes, then the COM port to which the peripheral device 10 is arracneo nas oeen identified. If the correct authentication has not been returned, then a check is made to see if the current active COM port has the highest number. If no, then 1 is added to the current COM port number and the process returns to the step 5 of sending of an identity check to the current COM port. If yes, then a wait of thirty seconds is taken, and the process returns to the initial step of obtaining the list of active COM ports. In this way, the current location of the connection to the peripheral device 10 can be ascertained by the computer 12.

Claims

1. A system comprising a peripheral device (10) connected to a computer (12), the device (10) comprising:• a case (14),• a display device (16) mounted on or in the case (14),• a control component (18) located within the case (14), connected to the display device (16), and arranged to control the operation of display device (16), and• a communication component (20) connected to the control component (18);the computer (12) including:• a microphone (22),• a monitoring component (24) arranged to detect access to the microphone (22) by a module (26) within the computer (12), and• a communication unit (28), connected to the communication component (20) of the peripheral device (10), and arranged to inform the communication component (20) when the monitoring component (24) has detected access to the microphone (22) by a module (26) within the computer (12).

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the communicationcomponent (20) of the peripheral device (10) is connected to the communication unit (28) of the computer (12) via a wired connection (32).

3. A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the peripheral device (10) further comprises a hinge clamp (32) connected to a lower side of the case (14) of the peripheral device (10).

4. A system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the peripheral device (10) includes a circuit board (34) arranged to provide the functionality of the control component (18) and the communication component (20).

5. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the monitoring component (24) is arranged to periodically check whether the module (26) is still accessing the microphone (22) of the computer (12).

6. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the display device (16) of the peripheral device (10) comprises an acrylic slide (16) backlit by one or more light sources.

7. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the display device (16) of the peripheral device (10) comprises two acrylic slides (16) each backlit by one or more light sources.

8. A system according to any claim 4, wherein the circuit board (34) mounts one or more light sources.

9. A system according to claims 7 and 8, wherein the circuit board (34) is located in-between the two acrylic slides (16), each acrylic slide (16) being backlit by the one or more light sources mounted on the circuit board (34).13

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