Controlling operation of a media device based upon whether a presentation device is currently being worn by a user

• US 8,954,177 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2011
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Sanders, Christopher John
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhao, Eugene
• Application Number:
  US13/150,575
• Publication Number:
  US 20120310391A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,350 Days
• Field of Search: 700/94, 381/120, 455/456.1, 455/569.1
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/08 by using devices external to the driving mechanisms, e.g. coin-freed switch coin actuated mechanisms G07F5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6058 involving the use of a headset accessory device connected to the portable telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H

Abstract

A mechanism is provided for automatically controlling the operation of a media device based at least in part upon whether a portable presentation device coupled to the media device is currently being worn by a user. A portable presentation device may be any device that is meant to be worn by a user and that is capable of presenting media content to the user (e.g. earphones, headphones, goggles or faceplates with video/audio capability, etc.). With this mechanism, a user can affect the operation of the media device by simply putting on or taking off the portable presentation device. The user does not need to manually manipulate the controls of the media device. By automatically controlling the operation of the media device in this manner, use of the media device and the portable presentation device as a unit is made much simpler and more convenient.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors of a media device, cause the media device to perform the operations of:

providing media content to a portable presentation device to be presented to a user, wherein the portable presentation device is meant to be worn, and is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her;

receiving thereafter a first set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, wherein determining whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her comprises determining whether the portable presentation device is on the user'"'"'s ears and determining whether the portable presentation device is on another part of the user'"'"'s body; and

automatically determining further operation of the media device based at least in part upon whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically halting provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device further comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the media device into a reduced power consumption mode.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions cause the media device to further perform the operations of:

after provision of media content to the portable presentation device has been halted, receiving a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein provision of media content is halted at a particular point in the media content, and wherein provision of media content is resumed at that particular point in the media content.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the media content is generated by an executing program, wherein automatically halting provision of media content to the portable presentation device comprises:

pausing execution of the program; and

wherein automatically resuming provision of media content to the portable presentation device comprises;

resuming execution of the program.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing media content to a portable presentation device to be presented to a user comprises:

receiving input from the user instructing the media device to begin listening for information from the portable presentation device;

receiving thereafter an initial set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the initial set of information, whether the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically commencing provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the portable presentation device comprises a plurality of earphones, and wherein determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her comprises:

determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether one, all, or none of the earphones are currently inserted in the user'"'"'s ears.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that only one of the plurality of earphones is currently inserted in the user'"'"'s ears;

continuing to provide media content to the portable presentation device but at a reduced volume;

or automatically halting provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the media device is capable of being used to conduct communications, wherein the media content is content from an ongoing communication between the user and another party, and wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the ongoing communication on hold, or automatically muting the ongoing communication.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the media device to further perform the operations of:

after the ongoing communication is put on hold or muted, receiving a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming the ongoing communication, or automatically unmuting the ongoing communication.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the media device is capable of being used to conduct communications, and wherein providing media content to a portable presentation device to be presented to a user comprises:

receiving notification of an incoming communication;

receiving an initial set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the initial set of information, whether the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her;

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically answering the incoming communication to give rise to an ongoing communication; and

providing media content from the ongoing communication to the portable presentation device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the media device is capable of being used to conduct communications, wherein the media content is content from an ongoing communication between the user and another party, wherein the portable presentation device comprises a plurality of earphones, and wherein determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her comprises:

determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether one, all, or none of the earphones are currently inserted in the user'"'"'s ears.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that only one of the plurality of earphones is currently inserted in the user'"'"'s ears;

automatically muting the ongoing communication;

or automatically putting the ongoing communication on hold.

15. A media device comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupled to a portable presentation device for providing media content thereto and receiving information therefrom, wherein the portable presentation device is meant to be worn by a user; and

a media provision mechanism (MPM) coupled to the communication interface, the MPM comprising a plurality of electronic circuit elements that are arranged and configured to cause the MPM to perform the operations of;

providing, via the communication interface, media content to the portable presentation device to be presented to a user, wherein the portable presentation device is currently being worn by a user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her;

receiving thereafter, via the communication interface, a first set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, wherein determining whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her comprises determining whether the portable presentation device is on the user'"'"'s ears and determining whether the portable presentation device is on another part of the user'"'"'s body; and

automatically determining further operation of the media device based at least in part upon whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her.

16. The media device of claim 15, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically halting provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

17. The media device of claim 16, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device further comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the media device into a reduced power consumption mode.

18. The media device of claim 16, wherein the electronic circuit elements are arranged and configured to cause the MPM to further perform the operations of:

after provision of media content to the portable presentation device has been halted, receiving, via the communication interface, a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

19. The media device of claim 15, wherein the media device further comprises a user interface, and wherein providing media content to the portable presentation device to be presented to a user comprises:

receiving, via the user interface, input from the user instructing the media device to begin listening for information from the portable presentation device;

receiving thereafter, via the communication interface, an initial set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the initial set of information, whether the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically commencing provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

20. The media device of claim 15, wherein the communication interface is also communicatively coupled to another party, wherein the MPM and the communication interface are capable of being used to conduct communication with the other party, wherein the media content is content from an ongoing communication between the user and the other party, and wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the ongoing communication on hold, or automatically muting the ongoing communication.

21. The media device of claim 20, wherein the electronic circuit elements are arranged and configured to cause the MPM to further perform the operations of:

after the ongoing communication is put on hold or muted, receiving, via the communication interface, a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming the ongoing communication, or automatically unmuting the ongoing communication.

22. The media device of claim 15, wherein the communication interface is also communicatively coupled to another party, wherein the MPM and the communication interface are capable of being used to conduct communication with the other party, and wherein providing media content to the portable presentation device to be presented to a user comprises:

receiving, via the communication interface, notification of an incoming communication;

receiving, via the communication interface, an initial set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the initial set of information, whether the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her;

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically answering the incoming communication to give rise to an ongoing communication; and

providing, via the communication interface, media content from the ongoing communication to the portable presentation device.

23. A system, comprising:

a portable presentation device that is meant to be worn by a user, the portable presentation device comprising a media content presentation mechanism for receiving and presenting media content to the user, one or more sensors for sensing a physical presence of the user, and an interface for providing information indicating a physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user; and

a media device communicatively coupled to the portable presentation device for providing media content thereto and receiving information therefrom, wherein the media device is configured in hardware or programmed by software to perform the operations of;

providing media content to the portable presentation device to be presented to a user, wherein the portable presentation device is currently being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her;

receiving thereafter a first set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the first set of information, whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, wherein determining whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her comprises determining whether the portable presentation device is on the user'"'"'s ears and determining whether the portable presentation device is on another part of the user'"'"'s body; and

automatically determining further operation of the media device based at least in part upon whether the portable presentation device is still being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically halting provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device further comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the media device into a reduced power consumption mode.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the media device is configured to further perform the operations of:

after provision of media content to the portable presentation device has been halted, receiving a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming provision of media content to the portable presentation device.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the media device is capable of being used to conduct communications, wherein the media content is content from an ongoing communication between the user and another party, and wherein automatically determining further operation of the media device comprises:

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is no longer being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically putting the ongoing communication on hold, or automatically muting the ongoing communication.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the media device is configured to further perform the operations of:

after the ongoing communication is put on hold or muted, receiving a second set of information from the portable presentation device indicating a current physical relationship between the portable presentation device and the user;

determining, based at least in part upon the second set of information, that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her; and

in response to a determination that the portable presentation device is again being worn by the user in a manner suggesting that the user wishes to have media content presented to him/her, automatically resuming the ongoing communication, or automatically unmuting the ongoing communication.