Audio illumination apparatus and storage medium

• US 9,544,979 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2013
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sako, Yoichiro, Okada, Hiroshi, Watanabe, Kazuhiro, Sakoda, Kazuyuki, Asada, Kohei, Takehara, Mitsuru, Nakamura, Takatoshi, Kamada, Yasunori, Kon, Takayasu, Hayashi, Kazunori, Tange, Akira, Hanaya, Hiroyuki, Koga, Yuki, Onuma, Tomoya
• Primary Examiner(s): McNally, Kerri
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dorsey, Renee
• Application Number:
  US14/046,009
• Publication Number:
  US 20140125451A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/125 by using cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

There is provided an audio illumination apparatus including an illumination unit, an audio output unit, a setting unit configured to set a parameter of at least one of illumination of the illumination unit and audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with a recognized user who is in a neighborhood, a transmission unit configured to transmit the parameter set by the setting unit to an audio illumination apparatus in the neighborhood, and a control unit configured to control the at least one of the illumination of the illumination unit and the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the set parameter.

Claims

1. A first audio illumination apparatus, comprising:

an illumination unit;

an audio output unit;

a setting unit configured to set a parameter of at least one of illumination of the illumination unit or audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with a recognized user who is in a neighborhood of the first audio illumination apparatus;

a transmission unit configured to transmit the parameter set by the setting unit to a number of second audio illumination apparatuses disposed on a route of the recognized user; and

a control unit configured to;

control the at least one of the illumination of the illumination unit or the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the set parameter; and

determine, based on a priority assigned to the recognized user, the number of second audio illumination apparatuses disposed on the route of the recognized user to which the parameter is to be transmitted.

2. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the route of the recognized user is determined in accordance with a destination of the recognized user.

3. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an imaging unit,

wherein, in an event a person is detected, the control unit is configured to control the transmission unit to transmit an image captured by the imaging unit to a server.

4. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect the person based on the image captured by the imaging unit.

5. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a sound collection unit,

wherein, in an event a person is detected, the control unit is configured to control the transmission unit to transmit an audio data collected by the sound collection unit to a server.

6. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect the person based on a sound reflected on a sound output from the audio output unit.

7. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect the person based on a footstep or a voice of the person collected by the sound collection unit.

8. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set at least one of an illumination pattern, a color, or a luminous intensity as the parameter of the illumination unit in accordance with the recognized user.

9. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set at least one of a timbre, a sound intensity, a pitch, a tempo, or equalization as the parameter of the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the recognized user.

10. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set a genre of music or a specific composition as the parameter of the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the recognized user.

11. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set directivity of the audio output unit as a parameter of the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the recognized user.

12. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set a sound volume of the audio output unit as the parameter of the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the recognized user.

13. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit is configured to set the parameter in accordance with a preference of the recognized user, wherein the preference is registered in advance.

14. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a recognition unit configured to recognize the user who is in the neighborhood of the first audio illumination apparatus.

15. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising an imaging unit configured to capture an area in the neighborhood, wherein the recognition unit is configured to recognize the user by face recognition based on a captured image obtained by the imaging unit.

16. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a sound collection unit configured to collect a sound in the neighborhood, wherein the recognition unit is configured to recognize the user by sound recognition or speaker recognition based on sound collection data obtained by the sound collection unit.

17. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the recognition unit is configured to recognize the user by authentication based on ID information acquired from a wireless tag.

18. The first audio illumination apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the parameter includes a time code, and

wherein the control unit is configured to start at least one of the illumination or the audio output in accordance with the time code, or control the illumination unit and the audio output unit in a manner that the illumination and the audio output is synchronized.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a set of computer-executable instructions that, in an event of execution by a computer, causes the computer to perform an operation to control a first audio illumination apparatus, comprising:

setting a parameter of at least one of illumination of an illumination unit of the first audio illumination apparatus or audio output of an audio output unit of the first audio illumination apparatus in accordance with a recognized user who is in a neighborhood of the first audio illumination apparatus;

determining, based on a priority of the recognized user, a number of second audio illumination apparatuses disposed on a route of the recognized user to which the set parameter is to be transmitted;

transmitting the set parameter to the determined number of second audio illumination apparatuses disposed on the route of the recognized user; and

controlling the at least one of the illumination of the illumination unit or the audio output of the audio output unit in accordance with the set parameter.