Electronic equipment with ambient noise sensing input circuitry
First Claim
1. An electronic device that operates in the presence of ambient noise, the electronic device comprising:
- a microphone that measures the ambient noise; and
processing circuitry that, based on the measured ambient noise, identifies a user gesture that comprises movement of a user'"'"'s hand relative to the electronic device without physically contacting the electronic device and without physically contacting a surface on which the electronic device rests, wherein the processing circuitry modifies the operation of the electronic device in response to the user gesture.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic device may include one or more microphones that monitor ambient noise and generate ambient noise data. The electronic device may include processing circuitry that receives the ambient noise data and compares the ambient noise data to a baseline ambient noise profile to detect changes in the ambient noise. Changes in the ambient noise may be caused by user gestures. The electronic device may compare the changes in the ambient noise to characteristic changes in ambient noise that are associated with user gestures to determine the user gesture made by a user. The processing circuitry may modify the operation of the electronic device based on the user gesture. An ambient noise input device may include surface features or movable components that cause the characteristic changes in the ambient noise. Ambient noise input devices may provide feedback to guide a user to provide input using ambient noise sensing.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An electronic device that operates in the presence of ambient noise, the electronic device comprising:
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a microphone that measures the ambient noise; and processing circuitry that, based on the measured ambient noise, identifies a user gesture that comprises movement of a user'"'"'s hand relative to the electronic device without physically contacting the electronic device and without physically contacting a surface on which the electronic device rests, wherein the processing circuitry modifies the operation of the electronic device in response to the user gesture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of sensing ambient noise with an electronic device that includes a microphone and processing circuitry, the method comprising:
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generating ambient noise information with the microphone; detecting a change in the ambient noise information using the processing circuitry; identifying a user gesture associated with the change in the ambient noise information using the processing circuitry, wherein the user gesture comprises movement of a user'"'"'s hand relative to the electronic device without physically contacting the electronic device and without physically contacting a surface on which the electronic device rests; and with the processing circuitry, adjusting an operational parameter of the electronic device in response to the user gesture. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An electronic device that gathers user input comprising:
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a microphone that detects changes in ambient noise relative to a baseline ambient noise profile; processing circuitry that identifies user gestures based on the detected changes in the ambient noise; a light source that provides visual feedback in response to identification of the user gestures by the processing circuitry; and a tone generator that generates a tone that supplements the baseline ambient noise profile when the processing circuitry cannot identify the user gestures. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification