Adjusting speakers using facial recognition

• US 9,544,679 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2014
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Trestain, Christopher Michael, Hamme, Bradford James
• Primary Examiner(s): Saunders, Jr., Joseph
• Application Number:
  US14/563,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20160165337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 764 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/166 using acquisition arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/004 Mounting transducers, e.g. provided with mechanical moving or orienting device mountings specially adapted to a particular sound-producing device, see the preceding groups G10K1/00 - G10K9/00, e.g. G10K1/26, G10K1/28, G10K9/22; arrangements of sonic watch equipment on submarines B63G8/39; buoys B63B22/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/323 for loudspeakers H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/025 Transducer mountings or cabinet supports enabling variable orientation of transducer of cabinet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 Tracking of listener position or orientation

Abstract

Embodiments herein describe an audio system that adjusts based on the location of a person. That is, instead of relying on fixed speakers, the audio system adjusts the direction of audio output for one or more speakers to optimize the performance of the audio system based on the location of a user or based on the number of users. To do so, the audio system may include a camera and a tracking application which identifies the location of a user and/or the number of users in front of the camera. Using this information, the audio system adjusts one or more actuators coupled to a speaker to change the direction of the audio output of the speaker. As the user continues to move or shift, the audio system can continually adjust the speaker to optimize the performance of the system.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a location of a user based on image data captured by one or more cameras;

identifying one or more coordinates in space based on the location of the user;

determining an identity of the user based on the image data, wherein the identity is associated with a user preference; and

based on the one or more coordinates and the user preference, generating a control signal using one or more computer processors that adjusts at least one actuator coupled to a speaker to change an orientation of the speaker in order to achieve a desired acoustic environment relative to the one or more coordinates, and wherein an orientation of the one or more cameras remains fixed in space while the orientation of the speaker is changed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the user identifies a face of the user in one of two-dimensional or three-dimensional space, the method further comprises:

identifying, using the identified face of the user, the user preference associated with the user; and

changing a parameter of a vehicle in which the user is located based on the user preference.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the user comprises a depth measurement based on a distance from the user and the one or more cameras.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the control signal further comprises:

transforming the one or more coordinates into the control signal using a predefined function.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the control signal is configured to adjust the speaker such that the speaker faces the one or more coordinates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more coordinates define a path in three dimensional space, and wherein the control signal is configured to adjust the actuator such that the audio output of the region follows the path.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of locations corresponding to a plurality of users based on image data captured by the one or more cameras;

generating a plurality of control signals for a plurality of actuators based on the plurality of locations, each of the actuators is configured to adjust a respective one of a plurality of speakers.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of speakers are located in a vehicle, wherein the plurality of locations identifies a respective location of the plurality of users.

9. A system, comprising:

a steerable speaker;

an actuator mechanically coupled to the steerable speaker; and

a computing device configured to;

receive a location of a user based on image data captured by one or more cameras;

identify one or more coordinates in space based on the location of the user;

determine an identity of the user based on the image data, wherein the identity is associated with a user preference; and

based on the one or more coordinates and the user preference, generate a control signal configured to adjust the actuator coupled to change an orientation of the steerable speaker in order to achieve a desired acoustic environment relative to the one or more coordinates, and wherein an orientation of the one or more cameras remains fixed in space while the orientation of the steerable speaker is changed.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the location of the user identifies a face of the user in one of two-dimensional or three-dimensional space.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the steerable speaker is mounted in a vehicle containing the user.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising at least two actuators mechanically coupled to the steerable speaker, wherein the computing device is configured to determine respective control signals for the at least two actuators such that the audio output region of the steerable speaker includes the one or more coordinates.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the respective control signals are configured to adjust the steerable speaker such that the movable speaker faces the one or more coordinates.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more coordinates of correspond to an estimated location of a body part of the user in space.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of actuators and a plurality of speakers, wherein the computing device is configured to:

receive a plurality of locations corresponding to a plurality of users based on image data captured by the one or more cameras;

generating a plurality of control signals for the plurality of actuators based on the plurality of locations, each of the actuators is configured to adjust a respective one of the plurality of speakers.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to adjust a speaker by performing the steps of:

receiving a location of a user based on image data captured by one or more cameras;

identifying one or more coordinates in space based on the location of the user;

determining an identity of the user based on the image data, wherein the identity is associated with a user preference; and

based on the one or more coordinates and the user preference, generating a control signal configured to adjust at least one actuator coupled to the speaker to change an orientation of the speaker in order to achieve a desired acoustic environment relative to the one or more coordinates, and wherein an orientation of the one or more cameras remains fixed in space while the orientation of the speaker is changed.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the location of the user identifies a face of the user in one of two-dimensional or three-dimensional space.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the location of the user comprises a depth measurement based on a distance from the user and the one or more cameras.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein generating the control signal further comprises:

transforming the one or more coordinates into the control signal using a predefined function, wherein the depth measurement is at least one input into the predefined function.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the control signal is configured to adjust the speaker such that the speaker faces the one or more coordinates.