Audio devices and related methods for acquiring audio device use information

• US 10,338,880 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2016
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skullcandy, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Skullcandy, Inc.
• Inventors: Burton, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan S
• Assistant Examiner(s): McKinney, Angelica M
• Application Number:
  US15/159,636
• Publication Number:
  US 20160357501A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/162 Interface to dedicated audio devices, e.g. audio drivers, interface to CODECs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/00 Circuits for transducers , loudspeakers or microphones

Abstract

Audio devices and related methods are disclosed. An audio device includes audio inputs configured to receive audio signals from a media player, speaker elements configured to convert the audio signals to acoustic waves, and control circuitry. The control circuitry includes a tracking module configured to extract use information from the audio and store use data including the use information on a data storage device of the audio device. A method includes transmitting the use data to a use data router configured to route the use data to a remote sever. A method of transforming a personal computing device into a use data router includes storing computer-readable instructions configured to instruct a processing element of a personal computing device to receive the use data from the audio device, and transmit the use data to the remote server. The method also includes transmitting the computer-readable instructions to the personal computing device.

Claims

1. A headphone for extracting and accumulating use data and transmitting the use data to a remote server, the headphone comprising:

one or more electrical interfaces including;

one or more audio inputs configured to receive audio signals from a media player; and

one or more communication interfaces configured to communicate with a use data router;

one or more speaker elements operably coupled to the one or more audio inputs and configured to convert the audio signals from the media player to acoustic waves;

control circuitry including;

one or more data storage devices;

a date/time module;

a tracking module configured to receive sensor data from at least two sensors for providing information about where a user was and what the user was doing when certain audio content was listened to, the tracking module operably coupled to;

the one or more audio inputs, the tracking module configured to extract use information from the audio signals and generate the use data including the use information;

the date/time module and configured to extract use information from the date/time module and generate the use data; and

wherein the tracking module is configured to associate environmental information with the use information in the use data, and wherein the tracking module is configured to determine what media the user consumed while exercising, walking, sitting still, and/or laying down; and

a storage interface operably coupled to the tracking module and the one or more data storage devices and configured to store the use data generated by the tracking module in the one or more data storage devices; and

wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the use data to the use data router to route the use data to the remote server.

2. The headphone device of claim 1, wherein the use data includes one or more segments of the audio signals.

3. The headphone device of claim 1, wherein the date/time module is configured to provide date/time data including at least one of date information and time information to the tracking module, and wherein the tracking module is configured to include at least a portion of the date/time data in the use data.

4. The headphone device of claim 1, wherein the one or more electrical interfaces include at least one wireless communication interface.

5. The headphone device of claim 4, wherein the wireless communication interface includes one of the one or more audio inputs.

6. A method of operating a headphone to extract and accumulate use data and transmit the use data to a remote server, the method comprising:

receiving, with an audio input of the headphone, an audio signal from a media player;

extracting use information from the audio signal by analyzing the audio signal with a tracking module of the headphone;

generating sensor data utilizing at least two sensors operatively connected to the tracking module;

the at least two sensors selected from a list consisting of an ambient light sensor and a temperature sensor providing information about where a user was when certain audio content was listened to, and a motion sensor providing information about what the user was doing when the certain audio content was listened to;

extracting environmental information from the sensor data by analyzing sensor data with the tracking module of the headphone and associating the environmental information with the use information;

determining, using the tracking module, what media the user consumed while exercising, walking, sitting still, and/or laying down;

storing the use data including the use information and the environmental information on a data storage device of the headphone; and

transmitting the use data from the headphone to a use data router configured to route the use data to the remote server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the use data to the use data router comprises transmitting the use data responsive to an audio device establishing communication with the use data router.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein storing the use data includes storing the use information and at least one of date information and time information corresponding to a date and a time, respectively, that the use information was extracted from the audio signal.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising erasing at least a portion of the use data from the data storage device of the audio device responsive to transmitting the use data to the use data router.

10. A headphone for extracting and accumulating use data and transmitting the use data to a remote server, comprising:

one or more data storage devices configured to store audio content received from a router comprising a personal computing device of a user of the headphone;

at least two sensors configured to generate sensor data, the at least two sensors selected from a list consisting of an ambient light sensor and a temperature sensor providing information about where the user was when certain audio content was listened to, and a motion sensor providing information about what the user was doing when certain audio content was listened to;

a media player configured to;

play the audio content stored on the one or more data storage devices when the headphone is disconnected from the router;

monitor specifics of use of the audio content by the headphone and generate the use data;

monitor the at least two sensors to detect environmental information and associate the environmental information with the use data, and determine what media the user consumed while exercising, walking, sitting still, and/or laying down; and

store, on the one or more data storage devices, a use record including information identifying specifics of use of the audio content by the headphone and the environmental information; and

one or more communication interfaces configured to receive the audio content from the router, and provide the use record to the router.

11. The headphone of claim 10, wherein the specifics of the use of the audio content comprise information identifying each audio track of the audio content that is played by the media player.

12. The headphone of claim 10, wherein the specifics of the use of the audio content comprise information identifying audio tracks of the audio content that are only partially played.

13. The headphone of claim 10, wherein audio content comprises at least one compressed stream of audio data.

14. The headphone of claim 10, wherein the at least two sensors comprise biometric sensors configured to provide biometric information to the media player.

15. The headphone of claim 14, wherein the media player is further configured to use the biometric information to automatically select audio tracks from the audio content stored on the one or more data storage devices to encourage the user to improve performance of an activity the user engages in while listening to the headphone device.

16. The headphone of claim 15, wherein the media player is further configured to automatically identify the activity using the biometric information.