Sound output device and sound output method

Abstract

To provide a sound output device and a sound output method that improve technology of reproducing recorded sound.SOLUTION: A sound output device is equipped with a control unit. The control unit divides data of an external sound around the sound output device collected by a microphone into a plurality of sound portions, and when the control unit receives a first operation that causes the sound output device to perform a process of playing back the plurality of sound portions accumulated in a ring buffer, plays back a first sound portion that is the most recent sound portion among the plurality of sound portions accumulated in the ring buffer, and after the first sound portion is played back, a second sound portion former than the first sound portion is played back.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sound output device and a sound output method. [Background technology]

[0002] There are known techniques for playing back recorded sounds. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an audio playback device that rewinds audio in response to a rewind request from a driver. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-119133 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional techniques for playing back recorded sounds leave room for improvement. For example, depending on the user's actions, sounds may be played back too long or too short.

[0005] In view of the above, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technology for playing back recorded sound. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A sound output device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: The device includes a control unit that divides sound data into data of a plurality of sound parts, and when a first operation is received, plays a first sound part of the plurality of sound parts, and after playing the first sound part, plays a second sound part that is earlier than the first sound part.

[0007] A sound output method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: Dividing sound data into a plurality of sound part data; When a first operation is received, a first sound portion of the plurality of sound portions is played back, and after the first sound portion is played back, a second sound portion that precedes the first sound portion is played back.

[0008] A sound output device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: When a first operation is received, the control unit plays the Nth sound part (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) out of multiple sound parts included in the sound data, and after playing the Nth sound part, plays the N+1th sound part that is earlier than the Nth sound part. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the technology for playing back recorded sound can be improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sound output device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram of the sound output device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of external sound data. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a sound portion to be reproduced. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a sound portion to be reproduced. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure of a sound output process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of external sound data according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining sound portions to be reproduced according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a sound portion according to a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the sound output device 1 according to the present embodiment is a bone conduction earphone. However, the sound output device 1 is not limited to a bone conduction earphone. The sound output device 1 may be any device capable of reproducing sound data. As another example, the sound output device 1 may be an ear-hook type earphone, a neck-hanging type speaker, an inner-ear type earphone, a canal type earphone, or a headphone. When the sound output device 1 is an inner-ear type earphone or a headphone, it may have an external sound capture function. The external sound capture function is a function of collecting the external sound of the sound output device 1 and outputting it to the user. The external sound is a sound generated outside the sound output device 1. As an example, the external sound includes a sound generated around the user. The external sound may include a sound generated by the user himself.

[0013] The sound output device 1 includes a housing 1L, a housing 1R, and a fixing member 1F. The housing 1L is placed against the left temple of the user. The housing 1R is placed against the right temple of the user. The fixing member 1F fixes the housing 1L and the housing 1R to the left and right temples of the user, respectively. The fixing member 1F includes a left ear hook that is hung on the user's left ear, a right ear hook that is hung on the user's right ear, and a band that connects these ear hooks.

[0014] The sound output device 1 is worn on the user's head. The user can hear external sounds while wearing the sound output device 1 on the head. However, when the user is paying attention to other things, the user may miss external sounds containing necessary information. For example, when the user is creating a document on a computer or reading a book, the user may miss external sounds containing necessary information. Even in such a case, the user can realize that he or she has missed the external sound containing the necessary information by selective attention. Selective attention is, for example, selectively paying attention to specific information in an environment where various external sounds exist. In this embodiment, when the user realizes that he or she has missed the external sound containing the necessary information, the user can make the sound output device 1 reproduce the external sound. By making the sound output device 1 reproduce the external sound in this way, the user can confirm the necessary information.

[0015] 2, the sound output device 1 includes a speaker unit 10, a microphone unit 11, an input unit 12, a ring buffer 13, a storage unit 14, and a control unit 15. The ring buffer 13 may be a component of the storage unit 14. The ring buffer 13, the storage unit 14, and the control unit 15 may be housed in either a housing 1L or a housing 1R as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, when a housing is attached to the fixed member 1F, the ring buffer 13, the storage unit 14, and the control unit 15 may be housed in that housing.

[0016] The speaker unit 10 is capable of outputting sound. In this embodiment, the speaker unit 10 includes a left bone conduction speaker and a right bone conduction speaker. The bone conduction speaker outputs sound to the user by transmitting vibrations to the user's skull. The left bone conduction speaker is housed in a housing 1L. The right bone conduction speaker is housed in a housing 1R.

[0017] The microphone unit 11 can collect external sounds around the sound output device 1. The microphone unit 11 includes a left microphone and a right microphone. The left microphone is housed in the housing 1L. The right microphone is housed in the housing 1R. The microphone unit 11 collects external sounds as stereo sounds using the left microphone and the right microphone. Of the two sounds contained in the stereo sounds, the sound collected by the left microphone is also referred to as "left sound". Furthermore, of the two sounds, the sound collected by the right microphone is also referred to as "right sound".

[0018] The input unit 12 is capable of accepting input from a user. The input unit 12 includes at least one input interface capable of accepting input from a user. The input interface is, for example, a physical key. The input unit 12 is located on the surface of the housing 1R as shown in FIG. 1. However, the input unit 12 may be located on the surface of the housing 1R or on the fixed member 1F.

[0019] Data of the sound part described later is accumulated in chronological order in the ring buffer 13. The ring buffer 13 is configured to include components that are the same as or similar to those of a storage unit 14 described later.

[0020] The storage unit 14 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The RAM is, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM) or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The ROM is, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The storage unit 14 may function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 14 stores data used in the operation of the sound output device 1 and data obtained by the operation of the sound output device 1.

[0021] The control unit 15 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination of these. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 15 executes processes related to the operation of the sound output device 1 while controlling each part of the sound output device 1.

[0022] The control unit 15 collects external sound around the sound output device 1, i.e., around the user, using the microphone unit 11. The control unit 15 divides data of the collected external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts.

[0023] The control unit 15 divides the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of the speech content included in the external sound. In this embodiment, the control unit 15 divides the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts by detecting a speech section from the external sound. The speech section is a section in which a speech state continues. The control unit 15 regards the detected speech section as a sound section. Generally, a person pauses speech when a breath or a punctuation mark is reached during speech. The position where such a person pauses speech may be regarded as a boundary of the speech section. By regarding the position where speech is paused as a boundary of the speech section, the speech section is divided by the meaning of the speech content. In other words, by regarding the position where speech is paused as a boundary of the speech section, the data of the external sound can be divided into a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of the speech content included in the external sound. Here, as described above, the external sound collected by the microphone unit 11 is a stereo sound. Therefore, when silent data continues beyond a set time in both the left sound data and the right sound data included in the stereo sound, the control unit 15 may detect the position where the silent data continues beyond the set time as a position where a person stops speaking, that is, a boundary of a speech section. When the volume of the sound data is equal to or less than a threshold, the control unit 15 may regard the sound data as silent data. The threshold may be set based on the volume of the sound data when no human voice is included. The set time may be set based on the language processed by the sound output device 1. When the language processed is Japanese, the set time is, for example, 500 [ms]. Furthermore, when the control unit 15 detects a boundary of a speech section and then detects voice data in either the left sound data or the right sound data, the control unit 15 may detect the time when the voice data is detected as the start time of the next speech section.

[0024] For example, the control unit 15 collects the external sound 2 as shown in FIG. 3. The external sound 2 includes a sound of "The boarding gate for the 12 o'clock departure of Airlines A to Narita has been changed to Gate 4." The control unit 15 detects speech sections from the external sound 2, and divides the data of the external sound 2 into data of sound parts 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e. The sound part 2a corresponds to the speech section including the sound of "departing at 12 o'clock." The sound part 2b corresponds to the speech section including the sound of "Airlines A to Narita." The sound part 2c corresponds to the speech section including the sound of "The boarding gate." The sound part 2d corresponds to the speech section including the sound of "To Gate 4." The sound part 2e corresponds to the speech section including the sound of "It has been changed."

[0025] The control unit 15 assigns an identifier (ID: identification) to the data of the divided sound parts. The control unit 15 stores the data of the sound parts in the ring buffer 13 in association with the identifier. Here, the data of the divided sound parts includes data of the left sound parts and data of the right sound parts. The control unit 15 may store the data of the left sound parts and the data of the right sound parts in association with the same identifier in the ring buffer 13. Every time the control unit 15 divides the data of the external sound into new data of sound parts, it stores the new data of the sound parts in the ring buffer 13 in association with the new identifier. With this configuration, the data of the new sound parts is sequentially stored in the ring buffer 13. When the data of the sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 exceeds the capacity of the ring buffer 13, the data of the old sound parts is deleted from the ring buffer 13. In this embodiment, recording the data of the external sound means storing the data of the external sound in the ring buffer 13 as data of the sound parts.

[0026] The control unit 15 may accept a first operation through the input unit 12. The first operation is an operation for causing the sound output device 1 to execute a process of reproducing a plurality of sound parts accumulated in the ring buffer 13 going back to the past. When the user feels that he or she has missed an external sound containing necessary information, the user performs the first operation on the input unit 12. The first operation on the input unit 12 may be any operation, such as pressing a physical key included in the input unit 12, for example.

[0027] When the control unit 15 receives the first operation through the input unit 12, it plays back the first sound part among the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13. The first sound part is the newest sound part data among the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 at the time when the first operation is received. After playing back the first sound part, the control unit 15 plays back the second sound part that is older than the first sound part. That is, when the control unit 15 receives the first operation, it plays back the Nth sound part among the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13, and after playing back the Nth sound part, it plays back the N+1th sound part that is older than the Nth sound part. N is an integer that satisfies 1≦N. When the number of sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 is M, N is an integer that satisfies 1≦N≦M-1. The larger N is the Nth sound part, the earlier it is in the data of the external sound. The N+1th sound part is the sound part that is one sound part before the Nth sound part in time in the data of the external sound. The control unit 15 reproduces the sound parts by outputting the sound parts to the speaker unit 10. Here, the sound parts that are stereo sounds include a left sound part and a right sound part. The control unit 15 may output the left sound part to the left bone conduction speaker of the speaker unit 10, and output the right sound part to the right bone conduction speaker of the speaker unit 10. With this configuration, the external sound data is reproduced for each sound part in order from the first sound part back to the past.

[0028] For example, in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the user feels that he / she has missed the sound "Gate 4" and performs a first operation on the input unit 12 at the time when the sound portion 2e is stored in the ring buffer 13. That is, in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the control unit 15 accepts the first operation at the time when the control unit 15 causes the sound portion 2e to be stored in the ring buffer 13. In this case, among the sound portions 2a to 2e stored in the ring buffer 13, the sound portion 2e becomes the newest sound portion data at the time when the first operation is accepted. Therefore, the control unit 15 plays the sound portion 2e as the first sound portion (N=1). After playing the sound portion 2e, the control unit 15 plays the sound portion 2d, which is older than the sound portion 2e, as the second sound portion. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the sound portions 2a to 2e stored in the ring buffer 13 are played in the order of the sound portion 2e, the sound portion 2d, the sound portion 2c, the sound portion 2b, and the sound portion 2a. In other words, the sound that is played will say, "There has been a change. The boarding gate is now Gate 4. Airlines A flight to Narita departs at 12 o'clock."

[0029] In this way, the data of the external sound is reproduced for each sound portion in order from the first sound portion backwards, so that the user can listen to and check the external sound for each sound portion in order from the first sound portion.

[0030] The control unit 15 may play a sound effect before playing the first sound portion. For example, in FIG. 4, the control unit 15 may play a sound effect before playing the sound portion 2e. By playing the sound effect, the user can be aware that the data of the external sound is played back in the past for each sound portion.

[0031] After playing the Nth sound part, the control unit 15 may play a sound effect and then play the N+1th sound part. For example, in FIG. 4, the control unit 15 may play sound effects between the sound part 2e and the sound part 2d, between the sound part 2d and the sound part 2c, between the sound part 2c and the sound part 2b, and between the sound part 2b and the sound part 2a. When the data of the external sound is played back for each sound part, the word order of the sounds played back is reversed from the word order of the external sound. Therefore, depending on the user, there are cases where the division of the speech section cannot be clearly grasped. Even in such a case, the user can easily grasp the division of the speech section by playing the sound effect after playing the Nth sound part and then playing the N+1th sound part.

[0032] The control unit 15 may wait a predetermined time after playing the Nth sound part before playing the N+1th sound part. The predetermined time may be set in consideration of the user's convenience. The predetermined time is, for example, 1 second. For example, in FIG. 4, the control unit 15 leaves a predetermined time between sound part 2e and sound part 2d, between sound part 2d and sound part 2c, between sound part 2c and sound part 2b, and between sound part 2b and sound part 2a. By thus leaving a predetermined time after playing the Nth sound part before playing the N+1th sound part, the user can easily grasp the boundaries of the speech section.

[0033] The control unit 15 may slow down the playback speed of the Nth sound part and the N+1th sound part to a predetermined speed. The predetermined speed may be set in consideration of the user's convenience. The predetermined speed may be lower than the normal playback speed. For example, in FIG. 4, the control unit 15 slows down the playback speed of the sound parts 2a to 2e. By slowing down the playback speed of the sound parts in this way, the user can easily understand the content of the played back utterance even if the word order of the played back sounds is reverse to the word order of the external sounds.

[0034] The control unit 15 may accept a second operation through the input unit 12 before the reproduction of all of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 is completed. The second operation is an operation that causes the sound output device 1 to execute a process of continuously reproducing a sound part being reproduced or a sound part whose reproduction has been completed at the time of receiving the second operation, up to the first sound part. In other words, when the control unit 15 accepts the second operation during the reproduction of the N+1th sound part or at the time when the reproduction of the N+1th sound part is completed, the control unit 15 continuously reproduces the N+1th sound part to the first sound part. If the second operation and the first operation can be distinguished from each other, the second operation on the input unit 12 may be the same as the first operation on the input unit 12. For example, the second operation on the input unit 12 may be an operation such as pressing a physical key included in the input unit 12, like the first operation on the input unit 12. Even if a first operation on the input unit 12 and a second operation on the input unit 12 are the same, the second operation can be distinguished from the first operation by designating the operation accepted after the first operation as the second operation.

[0035] For example, in Fig. 4, it is assumed that the control unit 15 receives the second operation while playing back the sound portion 2b. In this case, the control unit 15 plays back the sound portion 2b through the sound portion 2e, which is the first sound portion, in succession, as shown in Fig. 5. That is, a sound is played back stating, "The boarding gate for A Airlines bound for Narita has been changed to Gate 4."

[0036] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of a sound output process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This sound output process corresponds to a sound output method according to the present embodiment. For example, when the power of the sound output device 1 is turned on, the control unit 15 starts the process of step S1.

[0037] The control unit 15 collects external sounds around the sound output device 1 using the microphone unit 11 (step S1).

[0038] The control unit 15 determines whether or not a speech section is detected from the external sound collected in the process of step S1 (step S2). If the control unit 15 determines that a speech section is not detected from the collected external sound (step S2: NO), the process returns to the process of step S1. On the other hand, if the control unit 15 determines that a speech section is detected from the collected external sound (step S2: YES), the control unit 15 separates the speech section as a sound portion from the external sound and proceeds to the process of step S3.

[0039] In the process of step S3, the control unit 15 assigns identifiers to the divided sound parts. The control unit 15 stores the sound parts in association with the identifiers in the ring buffer 13 (step S4).

[0040] The control unit 15 determines whether or not the first operation has been accepted by the input unit 12 (step S5). If the control unit 15 determines that the first operation has been accepted (step S5: YES), the control unit 15 proceeds to the process of step S6. On the other hand, if the control unit 15 does not determine that the first operation has been accepted (step S5: NO), the control unit 15 returns to the process of step S1.

[0041] In the process of step S6, the control unit 15 reproduces the sound parts. In the first process of step S6, the control unit 15 reproduces the first sound part among the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13.

[0042] In the process of step S7, the control unit 15 determines whether or not the second operation has been accepted by the input unit 12. If the control unit 15 determines that the second operation has been accepted (step S7: YES), the control unit 15 proceeds to the process of step S8. On the other hand, if the control unit 15 does not determine that the second operation has been accepted (step S7: NO), the control unit 15 proceeds to the process of step S9.

[0043] In the process of step S8, the control unit 15 continuously plays back the sound portion that is being played or has finished playing at the time when the second operation is accepted in the process of step S7 through the first sound portion. After the process of step S8, the control unit 15 ends the sound output process. After the sound output process ends, the control unit 15 may execute the process from step S1 again.

[0044] In the process of step S9, the control unit 15 determines whether or not all of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 have been reproduced in the process of step S6.

[0045] When the control unit 15 determines that all of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 have been played back (step S9: YES), the control unit 15 ends the sound output process. After the sound output process ends, the control unit 15 may execute the process from step S1 again.

[0046] When the control unit 15 does not determine that all of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13 have been played back (step S9: NO), the control unit 15 returns to the process of step S6. When the control unit 15 plays back the Nth sound part (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) in the process of the previous step S6, the control unit 15 plays back the N+1th sound part in the process of the next step S6.

[0047] In this way, in the sound output device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the control unit 15 receives a first operation, it plays the first sound part out of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13, and after playing the first sound part, it plays the second sound part that is older than the first sound part. That is, when the control unit 15 receives a first operation, it plays the Nth sound part out of the multiple sound parts stored in the ring buffer 13, and after playing the Nth sound part, it plays the N+1th sound part that is older than the Nth sound part. When the first operation is received in this way, the data of the external sound is played back in order from the first sound part back to the past for each sound part. With this configuration, a situation does not occur in which the sound to be played back is too long or too short depending on the user operation. Furthermore, the user can easily check the information that he or she missed, as described below.

[0048] As a comparative example, assume an example in which the control unit 15 plays back all of the data of the external sound stored in the ring buffer 13 when the control unit 15 accepts a predetermined operation through the input unit 12. In this comparative example, when the control unit 15 accepts a predetermined operation in FIG. 3, it plays back all of the data of the external sound 2, "The boarding gate for the 12 o'clock departure of A Airlines to Narita has been changed to Gate 4." In this case, when the user misses the sound "to Gate 4," he or she must listen back to the sound "The boarding gate for the 12 o'clock departure of A Airlines to Narita has been changed to Gate 4" before hearing the sound "Gate 4." In particular, if the capacity of the ring buffer 13 is large, the number of sounds that the user must listen back increases. In such a comparative example, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the ring buffer 13 in order to reduce the number of sounds that the user must listen back. However, if the capacity of the ring buffer 13 is reduced, there is a possibility that sounds that the user missed cannot be stored in the ring buffer 13, that is, sounds that the user missed cannot be recorded.

[0049] In contrast to the comparative example, in this embodiment, when the control unit 15 accepts the first operation, it plays the Nth sound part, and after playing the Nth sound part, it plays the N+1th sound part that is older than the Nth sound part. With this configuration, the user can listen back to the external sound data for each sound part, starting from the newest sound part and going back to the past. For example, the user can listen back to the external sound 2 as shown in FIG. 3, starting from the newest sound part 2e and going back to the past as shown in FIG. 4. This allows the user to quickly check the sound part "to gate 4" when the user misses the sound "to gate 4" even if the capacity of the ring buffer 13 is large. In addition, the user can quickly check the sound part "to gate 4" without reducing the capacity of the ring buffer 13 as in the comparative example. In this embodiment, since it is not necessary to reduce the capacity of the ring buffer 13, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the user cannot record the sound that he or she missed, as in the comparative example.

[0050] As another comparative example, consider an example in which the control unit 15 plays back previous sound portions every time it receives a predetermined operation from the input unit 12. In this comparative example, the user must perform the predetermined operation on the input unit 12 many times until the missed sound portion is played back. For example, if the user misses the sound "To Gate 4" as shown in FIG. 3, the user must perform the predetermined operation on the input unit 12 four times before checking the sound portion 2d as shown in FIG. 4. In addition, in this comparative example, it is required to provide an interface such as a seek bar so that the user can visually check how many times the predetermined operation has been performed.

[0051] In contrast to the other comparative example, in this embodiment, when the control unit 15 receives a first operation, it plays the Nth sound part, and after playing the Nth sound part, it plays the N+1th sound part that is older than the Nth sound part. That is, in this embodiment, if the user performs the first operation on the input unit 12 only once, the data of the external sound is automatically played back in order from the newest sound part to the oldest sound part for each sound part. With this configuration, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the user must perform a predetermined operation on the input unit 12 many times as in the other comparative example. Also, in this embodiment, since the user only needs to perform the first operation on the input unit 12 only once, it is not necessary to provide a user interface such as a seek bar as in the other comparative example. Therefore, in this embodiment, the configuration of the sound output device 1 can be simplified.

[0052] Thus, according to the present embodiment, the technology for playing back recorded sound can be improved.

[0053] Furthermore, in the sound output device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the control unit 15 receives a second operation during playback of the N+1th sound part or at the point when playback of the N+1th sound part ends, the control unit 15 may continuously play the N+1th sound part to the 1st sound part. By continuously playing the N+1th sound part to the 1st sound part, the user can check the details of the information that he or she missed.

[0054] In addition, in the sound output device 1 according to the present embodiment, the control unit 15 may divide the data of the external sound into a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of the speech content included in the external sound. Here, when the data of the external sound is divided into a plurality of sound parts by dividing the data of the external sound at a certain time, the meaning of the speech content of the divided sound parts may become unclear. For example, when the data of the external sound 2 as shown in FIG. 3 is divided at a certain time, the sound "It has been changed to Gate 4" may be divided into a sound part "It has been changed to Gate 4" and a sound part "It has been changed". The meaning of the speech content of "It has been changed to Gate 4" and "It has been changed" is unclear. In this embodiment, the data of the external sound is divided into a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of the speech content, so that the speech content of the divided sound parts becomes clear. With this configuration, after the first operation is accepted, the sound parts with a clear meaning of the speech content are sequentially reproduced. For example, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, the sound "It has been changed to Gate 4. The boarding gate is A Airlines to Narita departing at 12 o'clock" is reproduced. With this configuration, the user can easily check the information that he or she missed.

[0055] (Other embodiments) In the sound output device 1 according to another embodiment, when the Nth sound portion includes a particle, the control unit 15 does not reproduce the sound of the particle included in the Nth sound portion. In the same manner as or similar to the Nth sound portion, when the N+1th sound portion includes a particle, the control unit 15 does not reproduce the sound of the particle included in the N+1th sound portion. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility of the user being confused, as will be described below.

[0056] For example, FIG. 7 shows an external sound 3. The external sound 3 includes the sound "Men are on the right side, women are on the left side." The control unit 15 divides the data of the external sound 3 into sound parts 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d. The sound part 3a corresponds to the speech section including the sound "Men are." The sound part 3b corresponds to the speech section including the sound "right side." The sound part 3c corresponds to the speech section including the sound "Women are." The sound part 3d corresponds to the speech section including the sound "left side." The sound parts 3a and 3c include the particle "wa." Here, the control unit 15 assumes that the first operation is accepted at the time when the sound part 3d is stored in the ring buffer 13. In this case, the control unit 15 sets the sound part 3d as the first sound part (N=1) and plays the sound parts 3d, 3c, 3b, and 3a in that order, as shown in FIG. 8. However, the control unit 15 does not reproduce the particle sound "wa" included in the sound portion 3a and the sound portion 3c. With this configuration, the sound "Left side female, right side male" is reproduced.

[0057] As a comparative example, consider an example in which a particle is included in the Nth sound portion and the sound of the particle included in the Nth sound portion is reproduced. In this comparative example, for sound portions 3a to 3d as shown in Fig. 7, the sound "women on the left side, men on the right side" is reproduced as shown in Fig. 9. This sound "women on the left side, men on the right side" includes the sound "women on the right side". A user who hears this sound may mistakenly think that women are on the right side.

[0058] In contrast to the comparative example, in another embodiment, when the Nth sound part includes a particle, the control unit 15 does not reproduce the sound of the particle included in the Nth sound part. In the same manner as or similar to the Nth sound part, when the N+1th sound part includes a particle, the control unit 15 does not reproduce the sound of the particle included in the N+1th sound part. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the user will mistakenly believe that the woman is on the right side, as in the comparative example. However, even if the user mistakenly believes that the woman is on the right side, as in the comparative example, if the user performs the second operation on the input unit 12, the sound "Men are on the right side, women are on the left side" as shown in FIG. 7 is reproduced. Therefore, the user can understand that the man is on the right side.

[0059] Other configurations and effects of the sound output device 1 according to the other embodiments are the same as or similar to the configurations and effects of the sound output device 1 according to the above-described embodiment.

[0060] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that a person skilled in the art can easily make various modifications or corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications or corrections are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions, etc. included in each functional unit can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent. Multiple functional units, etc. may be combined into one or divided. Each embodiment according to the present disclosure described above is not limited to being implemented faithfully to each of the embodiments described respectively, and may be implemented by combining each feature as appropriate or omitting a part. In other words, the contents of the present disclosure can be modified and corrected in various ways by a person skilled in the art based on the present disclosure. Therefore, these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, in each embodiment, each functional unit, each means, each step, etc. can be added to other embodiments so as not to be logically inconsistent, or replaced with each functional unit, each means, each step, etc. of other embodiments. In addition, in each embodiment, multiple functional units, each means, each step, etc. can be combined into one or divided. Furthermore, each of the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to being implemented faithfully according to each of the described embodiments, but may be implemented by combining each feature or omitting some features as appropriate.

[0061] For example, in the above embodiment, the control unit 15 is described as detecting a speech section from external sound data that is stereo sound. However, the control unit 15 may convert the external sound data that is stereo sound into monaural sound data and detect the speech section from the converted monaural sound data.

[0062] For example, in the above embodiment, the control unit 15 has been described as dividing the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts by detecting a speech section from the external sound. However, if the data of the external sound can be divided into a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of the speech content included in the external sound, the control unit 15 may divide the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts by any process or method. As another example, the control unit 15 may divide the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts by dividing the external sound at a position where the sound becomes louder than a predetermined value or at a position where the sound becomes higher than a predetermined pitch. The volume or pitch of a human sound (voice) generally becomes louder or higher at a portion where the speech content changes. Therefore, by dividing the data of the external sound at a position where the sound becomes louder than a predetermined value or at a position where the sound becomes higher than a predetermined pitch, the data of the external sound can be divided into data of the sound parts at a portion where the speech content changes. As yet another example, the control unit 15 may divide the data of the external sound into data of a plurality of sound parts in units of nouns or verbs by natural language processing such as sound recognition processing or morphological analysis. When the external sound includes many nouns or verbs, the data of the external sound is divided into data of a plurality of sound parts for each noun or verb, so that the user can listen back to the sound parts for each noun or verb. As yet another example, the control unit 15 may estimate a scene from the external sound. The control unit 15 may divide the data of the external sound into data of different sound parts for each different scene. The data of the external sound is divided into data of different external sound for each different scene, so that the user can listen back to the sound parts for each scene. For example, the user can listen back to sound parts such as a greeting scene, a scene of a recent topic, or a business negotiation scene.

[0063] In the above-described embodiment, the sound output device 1 has been described as dividing data of an external sound into a plurality of sound parts. However, the sound output device 1 may divide data of any sound other than an external sound into a plurality of sound parts. That is, in the sound output device 1, the control unit 15 may divide data of any sound other than an external sound into a plurality of sound parts, and upon receiving a first operation, may play an N-th sound part out of the plurality of sound parts, and after playing the N-th sound part, may play an N+1-th sound part that is earlier than the N-th sound part.

[0064] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 15 has been described as dividing the data of the external sound into a plurality of sound parts. However, the control unit 15 may not divide the data of the external sound. In the case where the data of the external sound is not divided, for example, when the speech section is set as the sound part, the control unit 15 may store the delimitation position of the speech section in the storage unit 14. In this case, when the control unit 15 accepts the first operation, the control unit 15 may play the data of the sound part based on the delimitation position of the speech section stored in the storage unit 14. That is, in the sound output device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the control unit 15 accepts the first operation, the control unit 15 may play the Nth sound part (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) of the plurality of sound parts included in the sound data, and after playing the Nth sound part, play the N+1th sound part that is earlier than the Nth sound part.

[0065] For example, in the above embodiment, the control unit 15 has been described as reproducing sound parts going back from the first sound part when the control unit 15 receives the first operation from the input unit 12. However, when the control unit 15 receives a predetermined operation from the input unit 12, after reproducing the Nth sound part, the control unit 15 may also reproduce the N-1th sound part, which is one sound part before the Nth sound part in time.

[0066] In one embodiment, (1) a sound output device includes: The device includes a control unit that divides sound data into data of a plurality of sound parts, and when a first operation is received, plays a first sound part of the plurality of sound parts, and after playing the first sound part, plays a second sound part that is earlier than the first sound part.

[0067] (2) In the sound output device according to (1), The data of the plurality of sound portions is stored in a ring buffer; The first sound portion may be the newest sound portion among a plurality of sound portions stored in the ring buffer at the time when the first operation is received.

[0068] (3) In the sound output device according to (1) or (2), The control unit may play a sound effect before playing the first sound portion.

[0069] (4) In the sound output device according to any one of (1) to (3), The control unit may play back an N-th sound portion (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N), and after playing back the N-th sound portion, play back an N+1-th sound portion that is earlier than the N-th sound portion.

[0070] (5) In the sound output device according to (4), The control unit may play back the N sound portion, play a sound effect, and then play back the N+1 sound portion.

[0071] (6) In the sound output device according to (4) or (5), The control unit may play back the Nth sound portion after a predetermined time has elapsed and then play back the N+1th sound portion.

[0072] (7) In the sound output device according to any one of (4) to (6), The control unit may slow down a playback speed of the Nth sound portion and the N+1th sound portion to a predetermined speed.

[0073] (8) In the sound output device according to any one of (4) to (7), When the control unit accepts a second operation during playback of the N+1 sound part or at the point when playback of the N+1 sound part has ended, the control unit may continuously play the N+1 sound part through the first sound part (N=1).

[0074] (9) In the sound output device according to any one of (1) to (8), The control unit may divide the sound data into data of a plurality of sound parts based on the meaning of speech content included in the sound.

[0075] (10) In the sound output device according to (9), The control unit may detect a speech section from the sound, and divide the sound data into data of the plurality of sound parts.

[0076] (11) In the sound output device according to any one of (4) to (10), The control unit is If the Nth sound portion includes a particle, the sound of the particle included in the Nth sound portion is not reproduced; When the N+1 sound portion includes a particle, the sound of the particle included in the N+1 sound portion does not need to be reproduced.

[0077] In one embodiment, (12) a sound output method includes: Dividing sound data into a plurality of sound part data; When a first operation is received, a first sound portion of the plurality of sound portions is played back, and after the first sound portion is played back, a second sound portion that precedes the first sound portion is played back.

[0078] In one embodiment, (13) a sound output device includes: When a first operation is received, the control unit plays the Nth sound part (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) out of multiple sound parts included in the sound data, and after playing the Nth sound part, plays the N+1th sound part that is earlier than the Nth sound part.

[0079] In this disclosure, descriptions such as "first" and "second" are identifiers for distinguishing the configuration. In the configurations distinguished by descriptions such as "first" and "second" in this disclosure, the numbers in the configurations can be exchanged. For example, the first sound portion can exchange the identifiers "first" and "second" with the second sound portion. The exchange of identifiers is performed simultaneously. The configurations remain distinguished even after the identifier exchange. The identifiers may be deleted. A configuration from which an identifier has been deleted is distinguished by a code. The descriptions of identifiers such as "first" and "second" in this disclosure should not be used solely to interpret the order of the configurations or to justify the existence of an identifier with a smaller number. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 1. Sound output device 1F Fixing material 1L,1R housing 2,3 External sounds 2a,2b,2c,2d,2e,3a,3b,3c,3d Sound part 10 Speaker section 11 Microphone section 12 Input section 13 Ring Buffer 14 Storage section 15 Control section

Claims

1. A sound output device includes a control unit that divides sound data into data of a plurality of sound parts, and when a first operation is received, plays a first sound part of the plurality of sound parts, and after playing the first sound part, plays a second sound part that is earlier than the first sound part.

2. The data of the plurality of sound portions is stored in a ring buffer; The sound output device according to claim 1 , wherein the first sound portion is the newest sound portion among a plurality of sound portions stored in the ring buffer at the time when the first operation is received.

3. The sound output device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit reproduces a sound effect before reproducing the first sound portion.

4. 2. The sound output device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit plays an Nth sound portion (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) and, after playing the Nth sound portion, plays an N+1th sound portion that is earlier than the Nth sound portion.

5. The sound output device according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit plays a sound effect after playing the Nth sound portion, and then plays the N+1th sound portion.

6. The sound output device according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit reproduces the Nth sound portion after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reproduction of the Nth sound portion, and then reproduces the N+1th sound portion.

7. The sound output device according to claim 4 , wherein the control unit reduces a reproduction speed of the Nth sound portion and the N+1th sound portion to a predetermined speed.

8. 5. The sound output device according to claim 4, wherein when the control unit receives a second operation during playback of the N+1 sound portion or at the point when playback of the N+1 sound portion has ended, the control unit continuously plays the N+1 sound portion through a first sound portion (N=1).

9. The sound output device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit divides the sound data into data of a plurality of sound parts based on a meaning of a speech content included in the sound.

10. The sound output device according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit divides the sound data into the data of the plurality of sound parts by detecting a speech section from the sound.

11. The control unit is When the Nth sound portion includes a particle, the sound of the particle included in the Nth sound portion is not reproduced; The sound output device according to claim 4 , wherein, when the N+1 sound portion includes a particle, the sound of the particle included in the N+1 sound portion is not reproduced.

12. Dividing sound data into a plurality of sound part data; When a first operation is received, a first sound portion of the plurality of sound portions is reproduced, and after the reproduction of the first sound portion, a second sound portion that precedes the first sound portion is reproduced. A sound output method comprising:

13. The sound output device has a control unit that, when a first operation is received, plays an Nth sound part (N is an integer satisfying 1≦N) out of multiple sound parts included in the sound data, and after playing the Nth sound part, plays an N+1th sound part that is earlier than the Nth sound part.

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