Virtual speaker demonstration system and virtual noise simulation
First Claim
1. A system for demonstrating acoustic performance to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
- a user interface for selecting options for a consumer, including a selected demonstration speaker model from a plurality of available demonstration speaker models;
a series of stored first characteristic samples reflecting the performance of the plurality of demonstration speaker models, wherein the first characteristic samples are empirically derived;
one or more acoustic input samples for processing to an acoustic output;
a processor for processing an acoustic input sample and a first characteristic sample corresponding to a selected demonstration speaker model;
a reference speaker model for outputting an acoustic signal based on the result of the processing;
the processing compensating for the performance characteristic of the reference speaker and the performance characteristic of the selected demonstration speaker so as to mimic the performance of the selected demonstration speaker while avoiding bias from the reference speaker;
wherein the outputted acoustic signal provides an accurate representation of the performance of the selected demonstration speaker model outputting the acoustic input sample to the consumer;
and further wherein the user interface permits the consumer to select a different demonstration speaker for processing to an acoustic output in order to compare performance between selected speaker models.
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Abstract
A virtual speaker demonstration system is disclosed that permits a retail outlet to use a reference speaker to demonstrate the performance of multiple different demonstration speakers. A user interface permits a user to select a demonstration speaker and signal processing is performed so that the output from the reference speaker simulates the output of the selected demonstration speaker. The invention provides benefits to all three of the consumer, the retailer, and the manufacturer. The consumer can listen to and compare multiple demonstration speakers easily and conveniently from the same reference speaker. The retailer to use a single (or few) reference speaker to demonstrate the performance of multiple demonstration speakers, saving costs and space. The manufacturer to be able to display and demonstrate to consumers a broader range of the manufacturer'"'"'s product line.
161 Citations
79 Claims
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1. A system for demonstrating acoustic performance to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
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a user interface for selecting options for a consumer, including a selected demonstration speaker model from a plurality of available demonstration speaker models; a series of stored first characteristic samples reflecting the performance of the plurality of demonstration speaker models, wherein the first characteristic samples are empirically derived; one or more acoustic input samples for processing to an acoustic output; a processor for processing an acoustic input sample and a first characteristic sample corresponding to a selected demonstration speaker model; a reference speaker model for outputting an acoustic signal based on the result of the processing; the processing compensating for the performance characteristic of the reference speaker and the performance characteristic of the selected demonstration speaker so as to mimic the performance of the selected demonstration speaker while avoiding bias from the reference speaker; wherein the outputted acoustic signal provides an accurate representation of the performance of the selected demonstration speaker model outputting the acoustic input sample to the consumer; and further wherein the user interface permits the consumer to select a different demonstration speaker for processing to an acoustic output in order to compare performance between selected speaker models. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 65, 66, 67)
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17. A system for demonstrating acoustic performance to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
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a user interface for selecting options for a consumer including a selected demonstration speaker out of a plurality of available demonstration speakers; a series of stored transfer characteristics reflecting representing the performance of the plurality of demonstration speakers, said transfer characteristics being represented in any suitable domain including but not limited to the frequency domain or time domain; an input for inputting an acoustic sample comprising music or other audio data; a processor for processing a stored transfer characteristic corresponding to the selected demonstration speaker and the acoustic sample; and reference speakers for outputting an acoustic signal corresponding to the processed result, the processing compensating for the performance characteristic of the reference speaker and the performance characteristic of the selected demonstration speaker so as to mimic the performance of the selected demonstration speaker while avoiding bias from the reference speaker; wherein the outputted acoustic signal provides an accurate representation of the acoustic performance of the selected demonstration speaker outputting the acoustic sample to the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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37. A method for simulating acoustic performance to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
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(a) accessing a user interface that includes options for selecting a demonstration speaker from a plurality of available demonstration speakers; (b) selecting a demonstration speaker; (c) performing one of selecting an environment and building an environment; (d) performing at least one of (1) selecting an acoustic sample from a plurality of stored acoustic samples available from the user interface and (2) the consumer providing an acoustic sample for input for processing; (e) listening to the output of the selected demonstration speaker on at least one reference speaker; and (f) repeating at least steps (b) and (e) for a different demonstration speaker so that the user can compare the performance of the demonstration speakers on the same at least one reference speaker; wherein the output is generated by processing to compensate for the performance characteristic of the reference speaker and the performance characteristic of the selected demonstration speaker so as to mimic the performance of the selected demonstration speaker while avoiding bias from the reference speaker; wherein the outputted acoustic signal provides an accurate representation of the performance of the selected demonstration speaker model outputting the acoustic sample to the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for providing an acoustic simulation to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
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accessing a stored reference speaker characteristic data; utilizing the retrieved reference speaker characteristic data to compensate for the effects of the reference speaker; accessing stored demonstration speaker characteristics data to retrieve a characteristic for a selected demonstration speaker, there being stored such demonstration speaker data for a plurality of demonstration speakers so that the consumer can compare performance between selected demonstration speakers; utilizing the retrieved demonstration speaker characteristic data; accessing stored environmental characteristics data to retrieve a characteristic for a selected environment, there being stored such environmental data for a plurality of environments; utilizing the retrieved environmental characteristic data; applying an acoustic sample; and outputting the processed result to the reference speaker for presentation to the consumer; the output mimicking the performance of the selected demonstration speaker using the reference speaker and providing an accurate representation of the performance of the selected demonstration speaker outputting the acoustic sample to the consumer and avoiding bias from the reference speaker. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for providing a virtual noise simulation to a consumer in order to compare vehicles or operating conditions for a vehicle, comprising:
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providing a user interface for selecting options for simulating an acoustic environment for a vehicle, wherein the options enable the user to select from among a plurality of vehicles, and further wherein the options enable to user to select from a plurality of operating conditions for a specific vehicle; receiving user selections of the options; and providing a virtual noise simulation to the consumer based on the selected options, wherein the virtual noise simulation provides an acoustic output representing the acoustic environment of the specific vehicle while in operation and receiving new user selections changing at least one of the selected vehicle and the selected operating condition; providing a modified virtual noise simulation to the consumer in order to allow the consumer to compare the different acoustic environments corresponding to the different consumer selections. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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74. A computer-implemented method of implementing a virtual speaker demonstration to consumers in order to evaluate different speakers, comprising:
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selecting a plurality of demonstration speakers for demonstration to consumers who can select different demonstration speakers for evaluation; storing a plurality of response characteristic data corresponding to the plurality of demonstration speakers; selecting a reference speaker to be used to demonstrate the performance of the demonstration speakers to consumers; evaluating the response characteristic of the reference speaker to determine compensation for compensating for the response characteristic of the reference speaker; processing the response characteristic data of a specific demonstration speaker; processing an acoustic sample; outputting an acoustic signal to the consumer using the reference speaker to accurately mimic the performance of the specific demonstration speaker while avoiding bias from the reference speaker. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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Specification