Facilitation of clear presentation in audio user interface
First Claim
1. An audio user-interfacing method in which items, at least some of which are service labels, are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from where item-related sounds appear to emanate, the method comprising:
- associating only some of the sound sources as members of a collection;
upon user command, and within an audio environment formed by audibly present sound sources unrelated to said collection, changing the collection in either direction between;
an un-collapsed state in which the member sound sources are individually audibly present in the audio field; and
a collapsed state in which the member sound sources are fully muted and a collection-representing sound source provides an audible presence for the collection; and
selecting a service by selecting the sound source representing the corresponding service label.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
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. At least some of the sound sources are associated in a collection as members of the collection; the collection itself has an associated collection-representing sound source. The collection can be changed in either direction between an un-collapsed state in which the member sound sources are present un-muted in the audio field, and a collapsed state in which the member sound sources are muted with the collection-representing sound source providing an audible presence for the collection in the audio field.
29 Citations
44 Claims
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1. An audio user-interfacing method in which items, at least some of which are service labels, are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from where item-related sounds appear to emanate, the method comprising:
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associating only some of the sound sources as members of a collection; upon user command, and within an audio environment formed by audibly present sound sources unrelated to said collection, changing the collection in either direction between; an un-collapsed state in which the member sound sources are individually audibly present in the audio field; and a collapsed state in which the member sound sources are fully muted and a collection-representing sound source provides an audible presence for the collection; and selecting a service by selecting the sound source representing the corresponding service label. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for providing an audio user interface in which items, at least some of which are audio labels for services, are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from where sounds related to the items appear to emanate, the apparatus comprising:
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a data store for storing data on the sound sources, this data including audibility data for controlling the audibility of the sources in the audio field, and collection data for associating only some of the sound sources into a collection of which those sound sources are members and for further associating with the collection a collection-representing sound source; a rendering position determining arrangement for determining, for each of said sound sources, a respective associated rendering position at which the sound source is to be synthesized to sound in the audio field; a collection-control arrangement for changing, upon user command, the collection in either direction between un-collapsed and collapsed states and for correspondingly setting the audibility data of the collection-related sound sources such that; in the un-collapsed state of the collection, the member sound sources are audible at their respective rendering positions; and in the collapsed state of the collection, the member sound sources are fully muted and the collection-representing sound source provides an audible presence for the collection in the audio field; a rendering subsystem, including audio output devices, for generating an audio field in which said sound sources are synthesized at their associated rendering positions and with the audibility of the collection-related sound sources set by said collection-control arrangement, the rendering subsystem being arranged to audibly present in said audio field, independently of the current state of said collection, those sound sources that are unrelated to said collection; and a selection arrangement for enabling a user to select a service by selecting the corresponding audio-label sound source. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. Apparatus for providing an audio user interface 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 apparatus comprising:
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a data store for storing data on the sound sources, this data including audibility data for controlling the audibility of the sources in the audio field, and collection data for associating only some of the sound sources into a collection of which those sound sources are members and for further associating with the collection a collection-representing sound source; a rendering-position determining arrangement arranged to determine, for each of said sound sources, a respective associated rendering position at which the sound source is to be synthesized to sound in the audio field; a collection-control arrangement arranged to change, upon user command, the collection in either direction between un-collapsed and collapsed states and to correspondingly set the audibility data of the collection-related sound sources such that; in the un-collapsed state of the collection, the member sound sources are audible at their respective rendering positions; and in the collapsed state of the collection, the member sound sources are fully muted and the collection-representing sound source provides an audible presence for the collection in the audio field; a rendering subsystem, including audio output devices, arranged to generate an audio field in which said sound sources are synthesized at their associated rendering positions with the audibility of the collection-related sound sources set by said collection-control arrangement, the rendering subsystem being arranged to audibly present in said audio field, independently of the current state of said collection, any said sound sources that are unrelated to said collection; and a notification arrangement arranged when the collection is in its collapsed state to provide via the collection-representing sound source, audio notifications of events related to the items represented by the member sound sources. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An audio user-interfacing method 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 method comprising:
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associating some only of the sound sources into a collection of which they are members; upon user command, and within an audio environment formed by audibly-present sound sources unrelated to said collection, changing the collection in either direction between; an un-collapsed state in which the member sound sources are individually audibly present; and a collapsed state in which the member sound sources are fully muted and a collection-representing sound source provides an audible presence for the collection; and using the collection-representing sound source, when, the collection is in its collapsed state, to provide audio notifications of events related to the items represented by the member sound sources. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification