Synthesizer for sounds in response to three dimensional displacement of a body

• US 5,107,746 A
• Filed: 02/26/1990
• Issued: 04/28/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Will Bauer
• Original Assignee: Will Bauer
• Inventors: Bauer, Will
• Primary Examiner(s): Witkowski, Stanley J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Helen
• Application Number:
  US07/484,985
• Time in Patent Office: 792 Days
• Field of Search: 84/626, 84/600, 84/645, 84/687, 342/106, 342/107, 342/457, 342/458
• US Class Current: 84/626
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/30 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52004 Means for monitoring or calibrating short-range imaging G01S7/5205
• 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: G10H 1/00 Details of electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/435 Ultrasound, i.e. input or control device involving inaudible pressure waves, e.g. focused as a beam
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/211 Wireless transmission, e.g. of music parameters or control data by radio, infrared or ultrasound beam G10H2220/405

Abstract

A system is provided for tracking the three-dimensional position of an object within a three-dimensional region by triangulation techniques to generate signals corresponding to such three-dimensional positions. The signals may be used to drive a music synthesizer. Triangulation may be by the use of at least three spaced apart ultrasound emitters cooperating with ultrasound receivers located on a body moving in the three-dimensional region. The position of each ultrasound receiver is calculable by triangulation from data from ultrasound pulses received by the receiver from the emitters. A sound map may be made of the region so that similar signals may drive the synthesizer differently for different sub-regions.

Claims

1. A system for converting movement of an object within a three-dimensional region to sound, comprising:

at least three ultrasound emitters located respectively at inertial reference points for triangulation determination of a position of said object;

at least one array of ultrasound receivers attached to said object to move with the object in the three-dimensional region;

a pulse detector connected to each array of ultrasound receivers to detect pulses received thereby;

a pulse encoder associated with the detector to encode detected pulses into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a mixer connected to receive output from the encoder(s);

a radio transmitter connected to the mixer to transmit radio data corresponding to detected pulses;

a radio receiver remote from each radio transmitter but associated therewith to receive radio data therefrom;

a pulse decoder connected to the radio receiver to decode transmitted pulses into a form suitable for microprocessor detection;

a microprocessor controller interfaced with the decoder for the detection of pulses and interfaced with the ultrasound emitters to send pulses thereto and to initiate emission of ultrasound pulses therefrom, to measure elapsed time between the emission of an ultrasound pulse from respective ultrasound emitters and a detected pulse corresponding thereto, to calculate data as to the orientation of the object from the elapsed times for pulses from each of the emitters to each of the receivers of an array, and to generate position indicating signals for the object; and

a computer interfaced with the microprocessor controller for receiving said position indicating signals therefrom, computing the three-dimensional position, velocity, and acceleration of the object in the three-dimensional region, and generating commands for a sound synthesizer in response to said position, velocity, and acceleration data.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which means is provided to store a map as herein defined of the different three-dimensional sub-regions in computer memory, the map being addressed by the position indicating signals.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the ultrasound frequency is in the range of from 20 KHz to 30 KHz.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the object is a human body.

5. A system as claimed in claim 4 in which more than one array of ultrasound receivers is present, each receiver being attached to a different part of the human body.

6. A system as claimed in claim 4 in which programming means are provided to address the sub-region map.

7. A system for converting movement of a human body within a three-dimensional region to music, comprising:

a music synthesizer;

four ultrasound emitters located respectively at four inertial reference points for triagulation determination of positions of parts of the human body;

at least one array of ultrasound receivers attached to a part of the human body to move with the part of the human body in the three-dimensional region;

a pulse detector connected to each array of receivers to detect ultrasound pulses received thereby;

a pulse encoder connected to each detector to encode detected pulses into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a mixer connected to receive output from the encoders;

a radio transmitter connected to the mixer to transmit data corresponding to detected pulses;

a radio receiver remote from each radio transmitter but associated therewith to receive radio data therefrom;

a pulse decoder connected to the radio receiver to decode transmitted pulses into a form suitable for microprocessor detection;

a microprocessor controller interfaced with the decoder for the detection of pulses and interfaced with the ultrasound emitters to initiate emission of ultrasound pulses therefrom, to measure elapsed time between the emission of an ultrasound pulse from respective ultrasound emitters and detected pulses from any one of the ultrasound receivers, to calculate the orientation of the respective body part from elapsed times for pulses between each of the emitters to each of receivers of an array of a respective body part, and to generate position indicating signals of the body part therefrom;

a microcomputer interfaced with the microprocessor controller for receiving said radial position indicating signals therefrom, calculating the three-dimensional position, velocity, and acceleration of the respective body part in the three-dimensional region, and generating commands for the music synthesizer in accordance with a sound map located in memory of the microcomputer and addressed by the position indicating position, velocity, and acceleration data.

8. A system for tracking an object within a three-dimensional region comprising;

at least three ultrasound emitters located respectively at inertial reference points for triangulation determination of a position of said object;

an ultrasound receiver attached to said object to move in the three-dimensional region;

a pulse detector connected to each ultrasound receiver to detect pulses received thereby;

a pulse encoder connected to each detector to encode detected pulses into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a mixer connected to receive output from the encoder(s);

a radio transmitter connected to the mixer to transmit data corresponding to detected pulses;

a radio receiver remote from each radio transmitter but associated therewith to receive radio data therefrom;

a pulse decoder connected to the radio receiver to decode transmitted pulses into a form suitable for microprocessor detection;

a microprocessor controller adapted to send signals to the ultrasound emitters to initiate emission of ultrasound pulses therefrom, to measure elapsed time between the emission of an ultrasound pulse from respective ultrasound emitters and a detected pulse corresponding thereto, to calculate orientation data for the object from the elapsed times for pulses from each of the emitters and the object, and to generate position indicating signals; and

computer means interfaced with the microprocessor controller for receiving said position indicating signals therefrom, computing the three-dimensional position, velocity, and acceleration of the object.