Intelligent Closed Captioning for Reduced Audibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users often miss audio dialogue in video content due to ambient noise or low volume, and existing closed captioning solutions are not automatically adaptive to changing audibility contexts, requiring manual intervention which can be inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device that automatically detects reduced audibility contexts using speech recognition, ambient noise, user inputs, and display device controls to provide textual closed caption data for difficult-to-hear dialogue, allowing for intelligent closed captioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If closed caption data is manually enabled, then dialogue accessibility is improved, but user convenience deteriorates due to requiring manual intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects reduced audibility contexts and enables closed captioning without user intervention. The electronic device monitors audio output, ambient noise levels, and playback context to determine when captioning should be activated, making the system self-serve the user's accessibility needs
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from multiple sensors (microphone for ambient noise, audio output monitoring, playback context data) to continuously assess audibility conditions and dynamically adjust closed captioning activation, creating a closed-loop control system that responds to changing conditions
2Reliability
If closed caption option is left on indefinitely, then dialogue understanding is improved, but viewing experience deteriorates due to unnecessary interference
Solution Approach 1:
The closed captioning system transitions from a static on/off state to a dynamic state that automatically adjusts based on real-time audibility assessment. The system activates captions only when reduced audibility is detected and deactivates them when normal audibility returns, creating an adaptive viewing experience
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of closed captioning from a fixed manual setting to a dynamically controlled state based on audibility parameters. By monitoring changes in ambient noise levels, audio output volume, and playback context, the system adjusts caption activation accordingly
3Ease of operation
If automatic detection of reduced audibility context is implemented, then user convenience is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages existing multi-functional components already present in modern electronic devices - the microphone array designed for general audio input, the audio output system for playback, and the processor for general computation - and repurposes them for the specific function of reduced audibility detection, avoiding the need for dedicated specialized hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses existing audio processing pipelines and context data sources as intermediaries to bridge the gap between raw device capabilities and the intelligent closed captioning function. By leveraging existing audio analysis and playback context data, the system avoids building complex detection mechanisms from scratch
Data Source
AI summary
An aspect provides a method, including: playing, on a display device, video content; providing, using at least one speaker, audio content associated with the video content; obtaining, from an external source, data relating to playback context; determining, using a processor, that the data relating to playback context is associated with a reduced audibility context; and providing, on the display device, textual data associated with dialog of the video content. Other aspects are described and claimed.