Spatial Audio Selection for Portable Music Players
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Solution Overview
Problem
The difficulty in selecting a specific piece of audio data from a large collection, especially in portable devices with limited display capabilities and in environments where visual interaction is challenging, leads to cumbersome operations.
Innovation Solution
An audio reproducing apparatus and method that assigns sound images of multiple audio signals to different spatial positions, allowing users to select desired audio by choosing sounds heard from these positions, enabling intuitive music selection without visual reference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If audio data selection is performed using character information display on a portable audio player, then users can identify audio data by title or album name, but the limited display area and scrolling operations make selection increasingly difficult as the number of audio data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical visual display and scrolling system with an acoustic field-based selection system. Instead of requiring users to visually scan and scroll through text lists, the system reproduces audio data with spatially differentiated sound images that users can locate and select through auditory perception alone, eliminating the need for visual-mechanical interaction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional visual display (scrolling through text on a screen) to three-dimensional spatial audio positioning. By assigning different spatial positions to audio data sound images, the system allows users to distinguish and select audio data based on directional hearing rather than linear scrolling, effectively adding a spatial dimension to the selection process
2Measurement precision
If audio data selection requires visual reading of character information, then users can accurately identify desired audio data, but selection becomes troublesome in environments where visual access is limited (walking, running vehicle)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces visual-mechanical reading with acoustic-field-based auditory selection. Users identify and select audio data by listening to spatially positioned sound images rather than reading character information, enabling accurate selection in environments where visual attention is unavailable or unsafe
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to perform audio data selection through natural auditory perception without requiring visual engagement. The acoustic field automatically presents audio data in spatially differentiated form, and users can identify and select desired content through hearing alone, making the system self-adaptable to various usage contexts
Data Source
AI summary
In a music selection mode, a reproduction object deciding unit in an audio reproducing apparatus selects a plurality of pieces of candidate music from music data stored in a storage unit and has a reproducing unit reproduce them simultaneously. An assigned position deciding unit controls an audio processing unit in such a manner as to assign the sound images of the pieces of candidate music respectively to different positions. An input by which one unit of sound is selected from among a plurality of sounds that a user hears from the different positions is entered to an input unit. Then the reproduction object deciding unit determines that music data corresponding to the sound has been selected. This causes a changeover to a normal mode and the selected music data only is reproduced.