Cadence determination and media content selection

• US 10,235,127 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2016
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spotify AB (Spotify Technology SA)
• Original Assignee: Spotify AB (Spotify Technology SA)
• Inventors: Jehan, Tristan, Garmark, Sten, Dziuk, Dariusz, Sen, Rahul, Smith, Owen, Olofsson, Lars Christian, Toumpelis, Nikolaos
• Primary Examiner(s): Saunders, Jr., Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/361,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20170235540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/10 Athletes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/12 Healthy persons not otherwise provided for, e.g. subjects of a marketing survey
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7405 using sound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0008 Associated control or indicating means
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/40 Rhythm
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/076 for extraction of timing, tempo; Beat detection tempo display G10H2220/081; tempo control G10H2210/375
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/091 Graphical user interface [GUI] specifically adapted for electrophonic musical instruments, e.g. interactive musical displays, musical instrument icons or menus; Details of user interactions therewith GUI in general G06F3/048
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/351 Environmental parameters, e.g. temperature, ambient light, atmospheric pressure, humidity, used as input for musical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/355 Geolocation input, i.e. control of musical parameters based on location or geographic position, e.g. provided by GPS, WiFi network location databases or mobile phone base station position databases
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/395 Acceleration sensing or accelerometer use, e.g. 3D movement computation by integration of accelerometer data, angle sensing with respect to the vertical, i.e. gravity sensing. conductor baton movement sensing G10H2220/206, angle sensing without reference to gravity G10H2220/391; player body joint angle sensing G10H2220/321
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/015 PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used touch-screen interfaces G10H2220/096
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/131 Library retrieval, i.e. searching a database or selecting a specific musical piece, segment, pattern, rule or parameter set
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10527 Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence

Abstract

Systems, devices, apparatuses, components, methods, and techniques for cadence determination and media content selection are provided. An example media-playback device comprises a media-output device that plays media content items, a cadence-acquiring device, and a cadence-based media content selection engine. The cadence-acquiring device includes an accelerometer and a cadence-determination engine configured to determine a cadence based on acceleration data captured by the accelerometer. The cadence-based media content selection engine is configured to identify a media content item based on the cadence determined by the cadence-determining engine and cause the media-output device to playback the identified media content item.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying a cadence of a repetitive motion activity, the apparatus comprising:

at least one accelerometer; and

a cadence-determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate at least one value based on the series of measurements; and

detect a stable cadence within fifteen steps of the repetitive motion activity by determining whether the at least one value meets at least one stability criterion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cadence-determination engine is configured to detect the stable cadence within ten steps of the repetitive motion activity.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stable cadence is detected by determining whether the at least one value meets the at least one stability criterion for a predetermined duration.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one value corresponds to a period of oscillation of the series of measurements over a duration.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the calculation of the at least one value includes a first value, wherein to calculate the first value the cadence-determination engine is further configured to:

measure a predetermined number of widths in adjacent oscillations, each width corresponding to a distance between equivalent points in the adjacent oscillations;

average the predetermined number of widths; and

determine the average as the first value.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one value includes a second value, the second valued being calculated by:

calculate a second value by smoothing the first value.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one stability criterion includes a difference tolerance and a duration tolerance, the difference tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value, and the duration tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value for a duration.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the duration is measured in terms of steps.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the duration is measured in terms of time.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a cadence-based media content selection engine configured to;

identify a media content item based on the cadence determined by the cadence-determining engine; and

cause a media-output device to playback the identified media content item.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the cadence-based media content selection engine is further configured to:

monitor for changes in cadence determined by the cadence determining engine; and

upon detecting a change in cadence;

identify a second media content item based on a changed cadence; and

cause the media-output device to playback the identified second media content item.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the cadence-based media content selection engine is further configured to, upon detecting a change in cadence, generate a cadence changed output.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the media content item is stored locally on the apparatus.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the media content item is streamed to the apparatus by a media-delivery system based on a request for at least one media content item that specifies the cadence.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the series of measurements are captured at a sample rate in the range of 20-200 Hz.

16. A media playback device comprising:

a media output device that plays media content items;

a cadence acquiring device comprising at least one accelerometer and a cadence determination engine, the cadence determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate at least one value representing a cadence based on the series of measurements; and

determine whether the cadence is stable; and

a cadence based media content selection engine configured to;

identify at least one media content item based on the stable cadence; and

cause the media output device to play back the at least one media content items,

wherein the cadence determination engine is configured to calculate the cadence based on the measurements in six or less oscillations.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one value includes a first value and a second value,

the first value being calculated by the cadence based media content selection engine further configured to:

measure a predetermined number of widths in adjacent oscillations, each width corresponding to a distance between equivalent points in the adjacent oscillations;

average the predetermined number of widths; and

determine the average as the first value, and

the second valued being calculated by the cadence based media content selection engine further configured to calculate a second value by smoothing the first value,

wherein the at least one stability criterion includes a different tolerance and a duration tolerance, the different tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value, and the duration tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value for a duration.

18. An apparatus for identifying a cadence of a repetitive motion activity, the apparatus comprising:

at least one accelerometer; and

a cadence-determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate a first value corresponding to a period of oscillation of the series of measurements over a duration;

calculate a second value based on the first value;

determine whether the first value and the second value satisfy a predetermined tolerance, the predetermined tolerance including a difference tolerance being a difference between the first value and the second value; and

upon determining that the predetermined tolerance is satisfied, calculate a cadence value based on at least one of the first value and the second value.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a cadence-based media content selection engine configured to:

identify a media content item based on the cadence value determined by the cadence-determining engine; and

cause a media-output device to playback the identified media content item.

20. An apparatus for identifying a cadence of a repetitive motion activity, the apparatus comprising:

at least one accelerometer; and

a cadence-determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate a first value based on the series of measurements by;

measuring a predetermined number of widths in adjacent oscillations, each width corresponding to a distance between equivalent points in the adjacent oscillations;

averaging the predetermined number of widths; and

determining the average as the first value;

calculate a second value by smoothing the first value;

detect a stable cadence by determining whether the first value and the second value meet stability criterions, the stability criterions including a difference tolerance and a duration tolerance, the difference tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value, and the duration tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value for a duration.

21. A media playback device comprising:

a media output device that plays media content items;

a cadence acquiring device comprising at least one accelerometer and a cadence determination engine, the cadence determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate at least one value representing a cadence based on the series of measurements in six or less oscillations of the measurements; and

determine whether the cadence is stable; and

a cadence based media content selection engine configured to;

identify at least one media content item based on the stable cadence; and

cause the media output device to play back the at least one media content items.

22. A media playback device comprising:

a media output device that plays media content items;

a cadence acquiring device comprising at least one accelerometer and a cadence determination engine, the cadence determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate at least one value representing a cadence based on the series of measurements; and

determine whether the cadence is stable; and

a cadence based media content selection engine configured to;

identify at least one media content item based on the stable cadence; and

cause the media output device to play back the at least one media content items,

wherein the at least one value includes a first value and a second value,

the first value being calculated by the cadence based media content selection engine further configured to;

measure a predetermined number of widths in adjacent oscillations, each width corresponding to a distance between equivalent points in the adjacent oscillations;

average the predetermined number of widths; and

determine the average as the first value, and

the second valued being calculated by the cadence based media content selection engine further configured to calculate a second value by smoothing the first value,

wherein the at least one stability criterion includes a different tolerance and a duration tolerance, the different tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value, and the duration tolerance being a difference between the value and the second value for a duration.

23. An apparatus for identifying a cadence of a repetitive motion activity, the apparatus comprising:

at least one accelerometer; and

a cadence-determination engine configured to;

obtain a series of measurements from the at least one accelerometer;

calculate a first value corresponding to a period of oscillation of the series of measurements over a duration;

calculate a second value based on the first value;

determine whether the first value and the second value satisfy a predetermined tolerance, the predetermined tolerance including a duration tolerance being a difference between the first value and the second value for a duration; and

upon determining that the predetermined tolerance is satisfied, calculate a cadence value based on at least one of the first value and the second value.