Music discovery dial

• US 10,656,902 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2018
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Kotelly, Christopher Alexis, Wilberding, Dayn, Kuper, Ron
• Primary Examiner(s): Molina, Hugo
• Application Number:
  US15/912,137
• Publication Number:
  US 20190272144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/005 Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/007 for public address systems public address systems per se H04R27/00

Abstract

Example techniques may involve tuning a music discovery dial. An implementation may include displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, a circular graphical user interface including multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions arranged around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface, each wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a respective streaming audio channel. The implementation may include detecting a touch input in a circular motion to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display and causing a paired playback device to play back an audio content snippet corresponding to each selectable regions that the touch input enters. The implementation may further include switching the playback device from playing back a given pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the full audio track from one or more servers of a streaming audio service.

Claims

1. A command device comprising:

a network interface;

one or more processors;

a touch-sensitive circular graphical display; and

a housing carrying the network interface, the one or more processors, the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, and data storage storing pre-cached audio content snippets and instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising;

displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, a circular graphical user interface comprising multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions arranged around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface, each wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a respective streaming audio channel;

detecting a touch input in a circular motion to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display;

when the touch input enters a first wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via the network interface, one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a first pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the first pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a first audio track that is representative of a first streaming audio channel corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region;

when the touch input enters a second wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a second pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the second pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a second audio track that is representative of a second streaming audio channel corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region; and

as the second pre-cached audio content snippet plays back on the one or more playback devices, switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track from one or more servers of a streaming audio service, wherein switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track comprises causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices to (i) stream the second audio track from the one or more servers and (ii) begin playback at a particular offset in the second audio track such that playback transitions seamlessly from the second pre-cached audio content snippet to the second audio track.

2. The command device of claim 1, wherein a first subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include audio tracks associated with a user account that is registered to the command device, wherein a second subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include new release audio tracks;

and wherein a third subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include audio tracks that are different from the audio tracks associated with the user account.

3. The command device of claim 1, wherein wedge-shaped selectable regions from the first, second, and third subsets are interspersed around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface.

4. The command device of claim 1, wherein the command device further comprises a proximity sensor, and wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

detecting, via the proximity sensor, proximity of a user to the command device; and

in response to detecting proximity of the user to the command device, enabling the proximity of a user to the command device and displaying the circular graphical user interface on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display.

5. The command device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

pre-caching, via the network interface within the data storage, audio content snippets consisting of characteristic portions of the audio tracks that are representative of the streaming audio channels corresponding to each wedge-shaped selectable region.

6. The command device of claim 1, wherein the one or more playback devices are configured into a particular zone of a zone-based media playback system, and wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display concurrently with the multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions, a graphical indication of the particular zone.

7. The command device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display concurrently with the multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions, one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions corresponding to respective categories of streaming audio channels;

detecting, via the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, a touch input to select one of the one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions, the selected additional wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a particular category of streaming audio channels; and

in response to detecting the touch input to select the particular one of the one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions, displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, another circular graphical user interface comprising multiple second wedge-shaped selectable regions corresponding to streaming audio channels of the particular category of streaming audio channels.

8. The command device of claim 1, wherein each category of streaming audio channels corresponds to one of:

(i) a given artist, (ii) a given genre, (iii) a given record label, (iv) a given streaming audio service.

9. The command device of claim 1,

wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising forming, via the network interface, an audio pipeline to the one or more playback devices,

wherein causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back the first pre-cached audio content snippet comprises streaming the first pre-cached audio content snippet to the one or more playback devices via the audio pipeline, and

wherein causing the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back the second pre-cached audio content snippet comprises streaming the second pre-cached audio content snippet to the one or more playback devices via the audio pipeline.

10. The command device of claim 1, wherein the second audio track is encoded in a non-sequential audio codec, and wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

decoding the second audio track into a sequential format, wherein stitching together the second audio content snippet and the second audio track comprises streaming the decoded second audio track in the sequential format to the one or more playback devices.

21. The command device of claim 1, wherein causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices to (i) stream the second audio track from the one or more servers and (ii) begin playback at a particular offset in the second audio track comprises sending, via the network interface to the one or more playback devices, data representing a uniform resource identifier indicating a source of the second audio track at the one or more servers and a particular offset corresponding to the end of the second pre-cached audio content snippet.

11. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a command device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, on a touch-sensitive circular graphical display of the command device, a circular graphical user interface comprising multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions arranged around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface, each wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a respective streaming audio channel, wherein the command device comprises a data storage storing pre-cached audio content snippets;

detecting a touch input in a circular motion to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display;

when the touch input enters a first wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via a network interface of the command device, one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a first pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the first pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a first audio track that is representative of a first streaming audio channel corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region;

when the touch input enters a second wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a second pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the second pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a second audio track that is representative of a second streaming audio channel corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region; and

as the second pre-cached audio content snippet plays back on the one or more playback devices, switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track from one or more servers of a streaming audio service, wherein switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track comprises causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices to (i) stream the second audio track from the one or more servers and (ii) begin playback at a particular offset in the second audio track such that playback transitions seamlessly from the second pre-cached audio content snippet to the second audio track.

12. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein a first subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include audio tracks associated with a user account that is registered to the command device, wherein a second subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include new release audio tracks;

and wherein a third subset of the wedge-shaped selectable regions correspond to respective streaming audio channels that include audio tracks that are different from the audio tracks associated with the user account.

13. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein wedge-shaped selectable regions from the first, second, and third subsets are interspersed around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface.

14. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

pre-caching, via the network interface within the data storage, audio content snippets consisting of characteristic portions of the audio tracks that are representative of the streaming audio channels corresponding to each wedge-shaped selectable region.

15. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more playback devices are configured into a particular zone of a zone-based media playback system, and wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display concurrently with the multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions, a graphical indication of the particular zone.

16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising:

displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display concurrently with the multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions, one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions corresponding to respective categories of streaming audio channels;

detecting, via the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, a touch input to select one of the one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions, the selected additional wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a particular category of streaming audio channels; and

in response to detecting the touch input to select the particular one of the one or more additional wedge-shaped selectable regions, displaying, on the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, another circular graphical user interface comprising multiple second wedge-shaped selectable regions corresponding to streaming audio channels of the particular category of streaming audio channels.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein each category of streaming audio channels corresponds to one of:

(i) a given artist, (ii) a given genre, (iii) a given record label, (iv) a given streaming audio service.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11,

wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the command device to perform operations comprising forming, via the network interface, an audio pipeline to the one or more playback devices,

wherein causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back the first pre-cached audio content snippet comprises streaming the first pre-cached audio content snippet to the one or more playback devices via the audio pipeline, and

wherein causing the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back the second pre-cached audio content snippet comprises streaming the second pre-cached audio content snippet to the one or more playback devices via the audio pipeline.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable to perform operations further comprising:

detecting a tap input to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display; and

in response to detecting a tap input to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display, toggling the one or more playback devices between paused and playing back states.

22. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices to (i) stream the second audio track from the one or more servers and (ii) begin playback at a particular offset in the second audio track comprises sending, via the network interface to the one or more playback devices, data representing a uniform resource identifier indicating a source of the second audio track at the one or more servers and a particular offset corresponding to the end of the second pre-cached audio content snippet.

20. A method comprising:

displaying, on a touch-sensitive circular graphical display of a command device, a circular graphical user interface comprising multiple wedge-shaped selectable regions arranged around the circumference of the circular graphical user interface, each wedge-shaped selectable region corresponding to a respective streaming audio channel, wherein the command device comprises a data storage storing pre-cached audio content snippets;

detecting, via the command device, a touch input in a circular motion to the touch-sensitive circular graphical display;

when the touch input enters a first wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via a network interface of the command device, one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a first pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the first pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a first audio track that is representative of a first streaming audio channel corresponding to the first wedge-shaped selectable region;

when the touch input enters a second wedge-shaped selectable region, causing, via the network interface of the command device, the one or more playback devices that are paired with the command device to play back a second pre-cached audio content snippet corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region, wherein the second pre-cached audio content snippet consists of a portion of a second audio track that is representative of a second streaming audio channel corresponding to the second wedge-shaped selectable region; and

as the second pre-cached audio content snippet plays back on the one or more playback devices, switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track from one or more servers of a streaming audio service, wherein switching the one or more playback devices from playing back the second pre-cached audio content snippet to playing back the second audio track comprises causing, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices to (i) stream the second audio track from the one or more servers and (ii) begin playback at a particular offset in the second audio track such that playback transitions seamlessly from the second pre-cached audio content snippet to the second audio track.