Auditory AR Earbud Tracking via Inertial Dead Reckoning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current augmented reality devices that provide interactive 3-dimensional sound fields are bulky due to power and processor-intensive tracking methods, limiting their form factor to large head-mounted displays and restricting the use of earbud-style headphones.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses an earbud-style auditory augmented reality device with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a computing module, employing footstep detection and pedestrian dead-reckoning to track the user's position and orientation, allowing for the remodelling and rendering of a 3-dimensional sound field without the need for bulky components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS, visual tracking methods, radar, or laser-based tracking methods are used to track user location, then tracking accuracy is improved, but device size and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tracking methods (accelerometer-based dead reckoning, gyroscope-based orientation tracking, and audio fingerprinting) into a unified tracking system. This integration allows the device to achieve accurate location and orientation tracking without relying on any single power-intensive method, thereby reducing overall device size and power consumption while maintaining tracking precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces audio fingerprints as an intermediary element to enable location tracking. Instead of using bulky GPS or visual tracking hardware, the system captures audio signals from the environment, generates fingerprints of these signals, and matches them against a database of pre-captured audio fingerprints from known locations. This intermediary approach allows accurate location determination without requiring large tracking components.
2Measurement precision
If GPS, visual tracking methods, radar, or laser-based tracking methods are used to track user location, then tracking accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple tracking methods (accelerometer-based dead reckoning, gyroscope-based orientation tracking, and audio fingerprinting) into a unified tracking system. This integration allows the device to achieve accurate location and orientation tracking without relying on any single power-intensive method, thereby reducing overall device size and power consumption while maintaining tracking precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces audio fingerprints as an intermediary element to enable location tracking. Instead of using bulky GPS or visual tracking hardware, the system captures audio signals from the environment, generates fingerprints of these signals, and matches them against a database of pre-captured audio fingerprints from known locations. This intermediary approach allows accurate location determination without requiring large tracking components.
3Reliability
If bulky auxiliary equipment is installed in physical space for tracking, then tracking capability is improved, but device portability and form factor options are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tracking functionality from bulky external equipment and relocates it to the portable audio device itself. By implementing accelerometer-based dead reckoning, gyroscope-based orientation tracking, and audio fingerprinting algorithms within the device, the system eliminates the need for large auxiliary tracking equipment in the physical space, thereby enabling portable earbud-style headphones to provide accurate tracking capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical tracking systems (such as visual tracking cameras, radar, or laser-based equipment) with sensor-based and signal-processing approaches. Accelerometers and gyroscopes detect motion and orientation through inertial measurements, while audio fingerprints track location through acoustic signal analysis. This substitution eliminates bulky mechanical components while maintaining tracking reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables a compact and lightweight augmented reality experience with interactive 3-dimensional sound fields, providing a realistic auditory augmented reality experience while reducing power and computational demands.
Implementation Method 1
A system that uses an earbud-style auditory augmented reality device with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a computing module, employing footstep detection and pedestrian dead-reckoning to track the user's position and orientation
Implementation Method 2
The game subroutine may be configured to facilitate modeling and rendering an interactive 3-dimensional sound field. The interactive 3-dimensional sound field may be remodeled and/or re-rendered to account for the user's updated position and orientation
Data Source
AI summary
Tracking the location and orientation of a user in an augmented reality application is generally power and processor intensive. While a relatively high degree of accuracy in user tracking may be required for visual augmented reality applications, a lesser degree of accuracy may be required for auditory augmented reality applications. Modified methods of pedestrian dead-reckoning may be used to effectively track a user, while keeping power consumption and computational load relatively small. An interactive auditory augmented reality experience, in the form of a haunted house game, may be produced without relying on GPS or visual tracking methods. Efficient user tracking methods allow a user to experience an interactive auditory augmented reality experience by using a relatively small auditory augmented reality device.