Acoustic Zone Recognition for Faster Multi-Room Playback Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current media playback systems face challenges in efficiently managing multiple listening zones, leading to increased time-to-music due to complex navigation and lack of automatic room recognition, which hinders seamless audio content selection and synchronization across different zones.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an acoustic signature system that uses imperceptible audio signals emitted by playback devices to automatically recognize and identify zones, allowing for dynamic UI updates on controllers, thereby reducing user interaction time and enhancing zone management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If manual navigation and zone selection methods are used in media playback systems, then users can access audio content, but time-to-music increases due to complex navigation procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic zone recognition and device identification without requiring manual user input. The acoustic signature detection mechanism autonomously identifies the playback device and associated zone, eliminating the need for users to manually navigate through system menus and selection interfaces, thereby directly reducing time-to-music while simplifying operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-establishes acoustic signatures for each playback device and zone configuration before user interaction is needed. When a user approaches or enters a zone, the system has already prepared the identification data, enabling immediate automatic recognition and device selection without requiring users to go through navigation procedures, thus reducing both time and operational complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple listening zones are managed manually, then audio content can be played across zones, but zone management becomes complex and synchronization difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses acoustic signature detection as a feedback mechanism to automatically identify which playback device is being accessed and which zone the user is in. This feedback loop enables the system to automatically adjust zone configurations and synchronization settings based on the detected acoustic signature, managing multiple zones adaptively without increasing user-facing complexity while maintaining full zone management capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical interaction (users physically navigating menus and selecting zones) with an acoustic field-based identification system. The acoustic signature detection mechanism uses sound wave properties to automatically identify devices and zones, substituting complex manual zone management procedures with an automated acoustic recognition system that maintains versatility while reducing management complexity.
3Loss of time
If automatic recognition systems are implemented, then user interaction time is reduced, but imperceptible audio signals are required which may affect audio quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different quality requirements to different functional components: the acoustic signature used for automatic recognition is designed to be imperceptible and low-fidelity, while the main audio playback maintains high quality. The acoustic signature serves only the local function of device identification, allowing it to have different characteristics (imperceptible, simplified) than the primary audio content, thus reducing user interaction time without compromising overall audio quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The acoustic signature acts as an intermediary signal separate from the main audio content. It is a distinct, imperceptible signal embedded in or transmitted alongside the audio output, serving solely for automatic device recognition. This intermediary approach allows the system to reduce user interaction time through automatic recognition while keeping the main audio quality unaffected, as the two signals serve different purposes and can be processed independently.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein provide for acoustic signatures in a playback system. As example implementation involves receiving from a microphone of the controller device, an audio signal played by a playback device, the audio signal indicating network information corresponding to the playback device. The example implementation further involves identifying the playback device based on the network information and responsively, modifying a user interface on the controller device based on the identification of the playback device.