Guiding device and method of controlling the same

• US 7,953,232 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2007
• Issued: 05/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Miyazaki, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Faulk; Devona E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paul; Disler
• Application Number:
  US11/685,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20070217616A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,540 Days
• Field of Search: 381 77- 82, 381/85, 381/111, 381/387, 381/123, 367/92
• US Class Current: 381/77
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/04 Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S

Abstract

A guiding device controls the directivity of a sound that is reproduced from a speaker in accordance with an attribute of contents.

Claims

1. A guiding device comprising:

a carrier wave generating unit that generates and outputs an ultrasonic carrier wave;

a modulating unit that modulates the ultrasonic carrier wave output from the carrier wave generating unit with an input audible voice signal;

a switching unit that selects and outputs the modulated signal output from the modulating unit or the input voice signal;

an ultrasonic transducer that is capable of being operated in both a first operation mode that reproduces a sound having a directivity and a second operation mode that reproduces a sound having no directivity, and is driven by a signal output from the switching unit to reproduce a signal sound; and

an attribute discriminating unit that receives voice guidance information including attribute data and voice data, outputs the voice data to the modulating unit and the switching unit as a voice signal, discriminates the attribute of the voice guidance information, and controls the switching unit so as to select the first operation mode or the second operation mode In accordance with the attribute.

2. The guiding device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an ID identifying unit that identifies a personal ID or an ID for a specific area;

a voice guidance information outputting unit that stores the voice guidance information that is previously associated with each of the IDs, and outputs the voice guidance information that corresponds to an ID identified by the ID identifying unit to the attribute discriminating unit;

a position identifying unit that identifies the position where the ID identified by the ID identifying unit is present, and outputs the position command; and

an actuator that controls so as to match a sound emitting direction of the ultrasonic transducer with the position where the ID identified by the ID identifying unit is present, on the basis of the position command output from the position identifying unit.

3. A guiding device comprising:

a carrier wave generating unit that generates and outputs an ultrasonic carrier wave;

a modulating unit that modulates the ultrasonic carrier wave output from the carrier wave generating unit with an input audible voice signal;

a level adjusting unit that adjusts a level ratio of the modulated signal output from the modulating unit and the voice signal;

an attribute discriminating unit that receives voice guidance information that is contents including attribute data and voice data, outputs the voice data to the modulating unit and the level adjusting unit as a voice signal, discriminates the attribute of the voice guidance information, and generates a level ratio command so as to change the level ratio of the modulated signal and the voice signal in accordance with the attribute information, and outputs the level ratio command to the level adjusting unit;

a mixer that composes the modulated signal and the voice signal whose levels are adjusted by the level adjusting unit, and outputs a composite wave; and

an ultrasonic transducer that is capable of reproducing both a sound having a directivity and a sound having no directivity, and is driven by a signal output from the mixer to reproduce a signal sound.

4. The guiding device according to claim 3, further comprising:

an ID identifying unit that identifies a personal ID or an ID for a specific area;

a voice guidance information outputting unit that stores the voice guidance information that is previously associated with each of the IDs, and outputs the voice guidance information that corresponds to an ID identified by the ID identifying unit to the attribute discriminating unit;

a position identifying unit that identifies the position where the ID identified by the ID identifying unit is present, and outputs a position command; and

an actuator that controls so as to match a sound emitting direction of the ultrasonic transducer with the position where the ID identified by the ID identifying unit is present, on the basis of the position command output from the position identifying unit.

5. The guiding device according to claim 4, wherein the position identifying unit generates the level ratio command on the basis of the ID information output from the ID identifying unit and the attribute information output from the attribute discriminating unit to output to the level adjusting unit, instead of generating the level ratio command by the attribute discriminating unit.