Audio Device Orientation Control for Directional Content Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia capture technologies face challenges in efficiently organizing and controlling multiple microphones to focus on specific sound sources and directions, especially in mobile devices, leading to suboptimal audio quality and difficulty in capturing spatial audio.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus that determines the orientation and position of an audio device relative to a mobile computing device, using Bluetooth and GPS, to control microphone arrays and camera functions for focused audio and video capture, enabling dynamic audio zoom and focus based on the audio device's orientation and position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple microphones are used to capture audio from different directions, then the spatial audio coverage is improved, but the difficulty of organizing and controlling the microphones increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an audio device (such as wireless earbuds or headphones) as an intermediary component that contains its own microphone array and processing capabilities. This intermediary handles the complex task of organizing and controlling multiple microphones, while the mobile device communicates with it through simplified interfaces. The audio device acts as a mediator between the sound sources and the mobile device, resolving the contradiction by offloading the microphone management complexity to a specialized component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the audio capture system into separate functional segments: the mobile device handles high-level content capture control, while the audio device handles the actual microphone array management and audio processing. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific tasks, improving spatial audio coverage without requiring the mobile device to directly manage the complexity of multiple microphones.
2Manufacturing precision
If the microphone array is controlled to focus on a specific direction, then the audio quality for that direction is improved, but the ability to capture ambient sound from all directions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic control of the microphone array's directivity pattern through beamforming technology. The system can dynamically adjust the focus direction and pattern width based on the capture scenario. When a specific direction needs high-quality audio, the beamforming focuses in that direction; when ambient sound is needed, the system expands the capture pattern to include multiple directions. This dynamic adaptability resolves the contradiction by allowing the system to optimize for either focused or ambient capture as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the microphone array, specifically the beamforming weights and directivity pattern characteristics. By adjusting these parameters, the system can switch between focused directional capture (for high audio quality in a specific direction) and omnidirectional or multi-directional capture (for ambient sound). The parameter changes enable the microphone array to adapt its behavior to different capture requirements, resolving the trade-off between focused quality and ambient coverage.
3Measurement precision
If the apparatus determines the orientation and position of the audio device to control content capture, then the accuracy of focused capture is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the audio device as an intermediary that contains sensors for determining its own orientation and position. Rather than requiring the mobile device to directly measure and track the audio device's spatial parameters, the audio device performs these measurements itself and communicates the results to the mobile device. This intermediary approach improves capture direction accuracy while minimizing the complexity increase on the mobile device side.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio device performs self-service by autonomously determining its own orientation and position using onboard sensors (such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and Bluetooth positioning). This self-determination capability eliminates the need for the mobile device to implement complex tracking and orientation measurement systems, thereby improving capture accuracy without proportionally increasing the mobile device's complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus, method and computer program product for: receiving orientation information relating to an orientation of an audio device operatively connected to an apparatus, determining, based on the orientation information, an orientation of the audio device with respect to the apparatus, determining, based on the orientation of the audio device with respect to the apparatus, a direction of capturing content by the apparatus, and controlling at least one functionality of the apparatus for capturing content in the determined direction.