Audio user interface with audio field orientation indication
First Claim
13-1. A user-interface method according to claim 1, wherein the sound sources are rendered through headphones and step (a) involves varying said offset in dependence on the rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to their body whereby to stabilise the audio field relative to the user'"'"'s body;
- said predetermined indicator reference being one of;
current facing direction, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset, there being no change in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
straight-ahead facing direction in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset except that changes in offset resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to their body are matched out by the changes in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
a direction fixed relative to the world, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of both of changes in said offset, and changes in orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s body relative to the world.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An audio user interface is provided in which items are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from where sounds related to the items appear to emanate. The sound sources are located in the audio field relative to an audio field reference. In order to rotate the audio field either in response to user input or to achieve a particular stabilisation of the audio field, the audio-field reference can be offset relative to presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices through which the sound sources are synthesised. To assist the user in appreciating the current orientation of the audio field, a visual indication is given of the orientation of the audio-field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference taking account, at least at a component level, of any change in value of said offset and any change in value of indicator-reference orientation relative to the presentation reference. The visual indication is, for example, provided via an indicator arrangement incorporated in an input device through which the user can command offset changes.
31 Citations
41 Claims
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13-1. A user-interface method according to claim 1, wherein the sound sources are rendered through headphones and step (a) involves varying said offset in dependence on the rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to their body whereby to stabilise the audio field relative to the user'"'"'s body;
- said predetermined indicator reference being one of;
current facing direction, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset, there being no change in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
straight-ahead facing direction in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset except that changes in offset resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to their body are matched out by the changes in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
a direction fixed relative to the world, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of both of changes in said offset, and changes in orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s body relative to the world.
- said predetermined indicator reference being one of;
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14-2. A user-interface method according to claim 1, wherein the sound sources are rendered through headphones and step (a) involves varying said offset in dependence on the rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to the world whereby to stabilise the audio field relative to the world;
- said predetermined indicator reference being one of;
current facing direction, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset, there being no change in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
straight-ahead facing direction in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset except that components of offset changes resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to their body are matched out by the changes in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference;
a direction fixed relative to the world, in which case step (b) takes account, at least at a component level, of changes in said offset except that changes in offset resulting from rotation of the user'"'"'s head relative to the world are matched out by the changes in the orientation of the indicator reference relative to the presentation reference.
- said predetermined indicator reference being one of;
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20. An audio user-interfacing method in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) setting the location of each sound source relative to an audio-field reference;
(b) controlling an offset between the audio-field reference and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of the audio output devices, this offset being varied both in response to user input and to achieve a particular stabilisation of the audio field;
(c) determining a rendering position for each sound source by combining the location of the sound source in the audio field with said offset;
(d) rendering said sound sources at their associated rendering positions in the audio field; and
(e) determining and visually indicating the orientation of the audio field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference direction taking account, at least at a component level, of any change in said offset and any change the orientation of said indicator reference direction relative to the presentation reference, at least where such changes do not match each other.
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21. Apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, the apparatus including:
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offset means for varying an offset between an audio-field reference relative to which the sounds sources are located in the audio field, and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices of the apparatus through which the sound sources are synthesised;
orientation-determining means for determining the orientation of the audio-field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference taking account, at least at a component level, of any change in value of said offset and any change in value of indicator-reference orientation relative to the presentation reference, at least where such changes do not match each other; and
a visual orientation indicator arrangement for visually indicating the said orientation determined by the orientation-determining means. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 40, 41)
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35. Apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, the apparatus including:
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a control arrangement for varying an offset between an audio-field reference relative to which the sounds sources are located in the audio field, and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices of the apparatus through which the sound sources are synthesised;
an orientation-determining arrangement operative to determine the orientation of the audio-field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference taking account, at least at a component level, of any change in value of said offset and any change in value of indicator-reference orientation relative to the presentation reference, at least where such changes do not match each other; and
a visual orientation indicator arrangement for visually indicating the said orientation determined by the orientation-determining means.
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36. Apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, the apparatus comprising:
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means for setting the location of each said sound source relative to an audio-field reference;
offset means for controlling an offset between the audio-field reference and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of the audio output devices;
means for deriving the rendering position of each sound source based on the location of the sound source in the audio field and said offset;
rendering means, including audio output devices, for generating an audio field in which said sound sources are synthesized at their associated rendering positions to provide sounds related to the items concerned; and
a visual indicator arrangement for determining and visually indicating the orientation of the audio field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference taking account, at least at a component level, of any change in said offset and any change the orientation of said indicator reference direction relative to the presentation reference, at least where such changes do not match each other.
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37. In apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, an input device comprising:
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at least one user-operable element, with associated sensing means, for commanding a change in offset between an audio-field reference relative to which the sounds sources are located in the audio field, and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices through which the sound sources are synthesised; and
a visual orientation indicator arrangement for visually indicating the orientation of the audio field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference, the visual orientation indicator arrangement comprising a set of selectively energisable indicator elements.
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38. In apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, an input device comprising:
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at least one user-operable element, with associated sensing means, for commanding a change in offset between an audio-field reference relative to which the sounds sources are located in the audio field, and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices through which the sound sources are synthesised; and
a visual orientation indicator arrangement for visually indicating the orientation of the audio field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference, the visual orientation indicator arrangement comprising a visual display screen.
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39. In apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which each of a plurality of items is represented in an audio field by at least one respective synthesized sound source from where sounds related to the item appear to emanate, an input device comprising:
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at least one user-operable mechanical element with at least two degrees of freedom and associated sensing means, for commanding a change in offset between an audio-field reference relative to which the sounds sources are located in the audio field, and a presentation reference determined by a mounting configuration of audio output devices through which the sound sources are synthesised; and
a visual orientation indicator arrangement for visually indicating the orientation of the audio field reference relative to a predetermined indicator reference, the visual orientation indicator arrangement comprising markings on an external surface of the user-operable element.
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Specification