Audio Lighting Control via Metadata Extraction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current connected lighting systems that synchronize with audio often rely solely on beat detection, which is inappropriate for non-music content like audio books or podcasts, and may not effectively complement the mood or harmony of music, as they fail to consider the importance of temporal alignment and color selection based on metadata properties.

Innovation Solution

A method that extracts metadata items from an audio stream, retrieves images based on these metadata values, and controls lighting effects to generate a complementary lighting scene, allowing for ranking and consistency checks to ensure appropriate color selection and pattern usage, even in the absence of a discernible beat.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If beat detection techniques are used to synchronize lighting with audio, then temporal alignment between lighting and music is improved, but the lighting effect becomes inappropriate for non-music content and fails to complement the mood or harmony

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetemporal alignment precisionVSAvoidadaptability to different audio types
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the control parameters from beat-based temporal synchronization to metadata-based color and pattern selection. By extracting metadata items such as genre, mood, and tempo, and using these to retrieve corresponding images and control lighting properties, the system adapts to different audio types without requiring beat detection, thus maintaining versatility while achieving appropriate atmospheric alignment

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of deriving lighting control from temporal audio analysis (beat detection), the patent inverts the approach by deriving lighting control from semantic audio information (metadata). The system retrieves images based on metadata values and uses these images to determine lighting properties, fundamentally reversing the traditional audio-to-lighting control paradigm to achieve better adaptability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Device complexity

If only audio waveform analysis is used for lighting control, then the system remains simple, but it cannot effectively complement the mood or harmony of the audio content

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem complexityVSAvoidlighting appropriateness
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary layer between the audio stream and the lighting control system. By extracting metadata items from the audio stream and using these as intermediaries to retrieve images and determine lighting properties, the system gains access to semantic information about the audio content without significantly increasing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary extraction of metadata items from the audio stream before generating lighting effects. By pre-processing the audio to extract relevant metadata such as genre, mood, and tempo, and using these to retrieve appropriate images in advance, the system ensures that the lighting effects are appropriately matched to the audio content from the outset

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3434073B1Enriching audio with lighting
Publication Date: 2020.08.26 SIGNIFY HOLDING BV
  • EP3434073B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3434073B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3434073B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method of generating a lighting effect based on metadata of an audio stream, the method comprising steps of: extracting metadata items from the audio stream; retrieving a first set of one or more images based on the metadata items; controlling a light source to generate a lighting effect based on said first set of one or more images.