Wireless Environmental Effect Control for Home Theater Synchronization

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing home theater systems lack a comprehensive mechanism for distributing and synchronizing ambient lighting and other environmental effects throughout a room, leading to increased complexity with numerous wired components and limited authoring capabilities for content creators.

Innovation Solution

Integration of environmental effect generators with surround-sound speakers into the same enclosures, controlled wirelessly, and powered by inductively rechargeable batteries, allowing for synchronized and remotely authored ambient lighting and effects across the room.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If environmental effect generators are integrated with surround-sound speakers into the same enclosures and controlled wirelessly, then device complexity and cable clutter are reduced, but synchronization precision and control reliability may worsen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem complexityVSAvoidsynchronization reliability

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces wired mechanical connections with wireless communication systems. Environmental effect generators integrated with surround-sound speakers communicate wirelessly with the media player, eliminating physical cable connections while maintaining control functionality. This substitution reduces device complexity and cable clutter while the system ensures synchronization reliability through timestamp-based coordination and protocol design.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Area of stationary object

If environmental effect generators are distributed throughout the room, then ambient lighting distribution is improved, but system complexity and power management difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoverage areaVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges environmental effect generators with existing surround-sound speaker enclosures. By integrating lighting and environmental effect components into the speaker housings that are already distributed throughout the room, the system achieves wide coverage area without adding separate distributed devices. This merging approach maintains system simplicity while expanding the spatial distribution of environmental effects.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Ease of operation

If content creators can remotely author environmental effects, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision and effect accuracy may worsen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthoring easeVSAvoideffect precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of the media player and wireless communication protocol that bridges content creators and environmental effect generators. Creators author effects remotely through standard media playback interfaces, while the system automatically translates these commands into precise control signals for the distributed generators. This intermediary layer maintains ease of operation while preserving effect precision through automated coordination and timestamp synchronization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

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

This solution enables wide distribution of environmental effects synchronized with media content, reducing cable clutter and providing sub-millisecond latency, while allowing creators to remotely author and reproduce effects in home theater settings.

Implementation Method 1

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElectromagnetic induction: Electromagnetic Induction

Data Source

PatentUS10541005B2Distributed and synchronized control system for environmental signals in multimedia playback

Publication Date: 2020.01.21 INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AMERICAS CORP

AI summary

A method includes providing a media dataset including media content data and environmental effects metadata defining a set of environmental events each corresponding to a media timestamp of a plurality of media timestamps. The method further includes, for each environmental event in the set of environmental events, identifying a protocol timestamp for a communication protocol, where the protocol timestamp corresponds to the media timestamp of the environmental event, and generating a message for transmission according the communication protocol, where the message associates the environmental event with the protocol timestamp. The method further includes addressing the message to one or more environmental effect generators.