Portable music player with synchronized transmissive visual overlays

• US 7,732,694 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2007
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Outland Research LLC
• Inventors: Rosenberg, Louis B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Donels; Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Russell; Christina
• Application Number:
  US11/626,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20070180979A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 846/11, 844/64.R, 844/77.R, 844/832, 359/630, 386/46, 703/13
• US Class Current: 84/464.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/368 displaying animated or moving pictures synchronized with the music or audio part
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/031 Musical analysis, i.e. isolation, extraction or identification of musical elements or musical parameters from a raw acoustic signal or from an encoded audio signal

Abstract

A portable music player apparatus that outputs visual content to a head-worn transmissive display, the visual content being modulated in time with playing musical content and overlaid upon the user'"'"'s direct view of his or her physical surroundings. In this way, the user is provided with an enhanced visual view of his or her physical surroundings, the enhanced visual view including transmissive visual content that is generally synchronized in time with the playing music content. This provides the user with an improved music listening experience in which he or she feels present within a visually enhanced version of the physical world that has changing visual qualities that are perceptually synchronized in time with one or more features of the playing music. The displayed visual content may include time-varying translucency and/or color-tinting such that the user'"'"'s direct view of the physical world changes in brightness and/or color tinting in a manner choreographed with the playing music.

Claims

1. A portable apparatus for providing music-responsive transmissive visual overlays that augment a user'"'"'s view of the real world, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a transmissive display functionally coupled to the processor and configured to display visual content such that a user perceives the displayed visual content as a real-time visual overlay upon the user'"'"'s view of the real world;

a musical media file operatively loaded into the memory;

a music responsive visual overlay program operatively loaded into the memory including instructions executable by the processor to modulate the visual content displayed upon the transmissive visual display in apparent time synchronicity with an audio output of the musical media file; and

,

an audio processing subsystem functionally coupled to the processor configured to provide the audio output from play of the musical media file to the user.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the visual content includes an image with varying translucency time-synchronized with the playing of the musical media file thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in brightness in apparent time synchronicity with the audio output.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the visual content includes an image with varying color-tinting time-synchronized with the playing of the musical media file thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in color-tinting in apparent time synchronicity with the audio output.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the visual content includes an opaque border area that varies in at least one of size or shape with the playing of the musical media file, thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in apparent time synchronicity with the audio output.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a rhythm associated with the playing musical media file.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a melody associated with the playing musical media file.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a percussion sound associated with the playing musical media file.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the visual content is modulated in a time-synchronized manner with respect to the audio outputting, the modulation being performed as a result of a mathematical analysis of the musical media file.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the result is generated in real time.

10. A method for providing music-responsive transmissive visual overlays that augment a user'"'"'s view of the real world, the method comprising:

providing a transmissive display for displaying visual content such that a user perceives the displayed visual content as a real-time visual overlay upon the user'"'"'s view of the real world;

functionally coupling the transmissive display to a processor associated with a portable media player;

providing a music responsive visual overlay program including instructions executable by the processor for modulating the visual content displayed upon the transmissive visual display in apparent time synchronicity with an audio outputting of a playing musical media file; and

,

functionally coupling an audio processing subsystem to the processor for audio outputting the playing musical media file to the user.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the visual content includes an image with varying translucency time-synchronized with the playing musical media file thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in brightness in apparent time synchronicity with the audio outputting.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein at least a portion of the visual overlay is modulated to a particular translucency level in at least partial dependence upon a detected change in an amplitude within the playing musical media file.

13. The method according to in claim 10 wherein the wherein the visual content includes an image with varying color-tinting time-synchronized with the playing musical media file thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in color-tinting in apparent time synchronicity with the audio outputting.

14. The method according to claim 13 wherein at least a portion of the visual overlay is modulated to a particular color tinting in at least partial dependence upon a detected change in amplitude within the playing musical media file.

15. The method according to in claim 10 wherein the visual content includes an opaque border area that varies in at least one of size and shape in time with the playing musical media file, thereby providing the user a view of the real world that visually varies in apparent time synchronicity with the playing musical media file.

16. The method according to claim 10 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a rhythm associated with the playing musical media file.

17. The method according to claim 10 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a melody associated with the playing musical media file.

18. The method according to claim 10 wherein the modulated visual content is time-synchronized with a percussion sound associated with the playing musical media file.

19. The method according to claim 10 wherein the visual content is modulated in a time-synchronized manner with respect to the audio outputting, the modulation being performed as a result of a mathematical analysis of the musical media file.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein the result is generated in real time.

21. A computer program product embodied in a tangible form comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

play a musical media file stored in a memory coupled to the processor;

generate an audio output from the play of the musical media file;

generate a visual content modulated in apparent synchronicity with at least one varying characteristic of the generated audio output for display upon a transmissive visual display coupled to the processor;

output the modulated visual content to the transmissive visual display such that a user perceives the displayed visual content as a real-time visual overlay upon the user'"'"'s view of the real world which varies in apparent time synchronicity with the audio output generated by play of the musical media file.

22. The computer program product according to claim 21 wherein the modulated visual content includes an image which varies in one or more of size, shape, color, tint, brightness, translucency and any combination thereof in the apparent time synchronicity with the audio output of the musical media file.