×

Control based on proximity

  • US 10,552,116 B2
  • Filed: 05/07/2018
  • Issued: 02/04/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A playback device comprising:

  • a housing configured to be supported by a substantially horizontal surface;

    a network interface carried by the housing and configured to communicate with an external device over a local area network;

    a screen-less capacitive touch-control interface carried on an exterior surface of the housing, wherein the screen-less capacitive touch-control interface comprises a play/pause control, that when selected, (a) stops audio playback or (b) starts playback if the audio playback is stopped;

    a proximity sensor carried on the exterior surface of the housing and calibrated to detect presence of a hand at a greater range than a capacitive range of the screen-less capacitive touch-control interface;

    one or more amplifiers carried by the housing, the one or more amplifiers configured to drive one or more speakers;

    one or more processors carried by the housing;

    data storage carried by the housing and having stored therein instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the playback device to perform a method comprising;

    playing back audio content via the one or more amplifiers and the one or more speakers;

    while the playback device is playing back the audio content, detecting, via the proximity sensor, presence of a hand in proximity to the playback device; and

    in response to detecting the presence of the hand in proximity to the playback device,stopping the playing back of audio content; and

    transmitting, via the network interface, a message to the external device over the local area network that causes the external device to modify an output.

View all claims
  • 4 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×