Automatic content transfer

• US 9,491,033 B1
• Filed: 04/22/2013
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Soyannwo, Olusanya Temitope, Piersol, Kurt Wesley, Velusamy, Kavitha, Chen, Tina Yung-Ting, Crump, Edward Dietz
• Primary Examiner(s): Hussain, Imad
• Application Number:
  US13/867,892
• Time in Patent Office: 1,296 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/14 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/802 Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4451 User profiles; Roaming
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A computing system with multiple devices local to an environment facilitates active transfer among the multiple devices as a user moves about the environment. The devices may sense a presence or non-presence of the user and attempt to coordinate transfer to a device proximal to the user. In another implementation, the devices may communicate with a remote system that monitors a location of the user within the environment and causes content associated with the user to transfer between computing devices of the system based on the location and movement of the user.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

a first computing device collocated in an environment with a second computing device, the first computing device comprising;

at least one speaker to output content to a user;

at least one microphone to capture sound and convert the sound into an audio signal;

one or more communication interfaces to communicate with the second computing device;

one or more processors; and

computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to;

detect sound related to the user in the audio signal;

determine an identity of the user by detecting a voice print of the user within the sound related to the user;

monitor, at the first computing device, changes in a characteristic of the sound related to the user;

determine a direction of movement of the user based at least in part on the changes in the characteristic of the sound related to the user;

locate the second computing device in the environment;

determine that the direction of movement of the user is substantially away from the first computing device; and

cause the second computing device to output the content.

2. The computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to:

determine a first volume level of the sound related to the user;

receive a second volume level of the sound related to the user from the second computing device;

detect that the first volume level falls below a threshold at the first computing device; and

send a wake-up command to the second computing device.

3. The computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein locating the second computing device is based at least in part on a triangulation distance between the user, the first computing device, and the second computing device.

4. The computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more communication interfaces are in communication with at least one mobile communication device associated with the user and the content is received from the mobile communication device.

5. The computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first computing device continues to output the content.

6. The computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the sound related to the user comprises a frequency.

7. A computing device comprising:

at least one speaker to output content to a user;

at least one microphone to capture information from an environment associated with the computing device;

one or more transmitters and one or more receivers to communicate with a second device;

one or more processors; and

computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to;

detect a presence of the user in the environment based at least in part on sounds related to movement of the user captured from the environment;

determine, at the computing device, that the user is moving in a direction substantially away from the computing device;

locate the second device within the environment; and

send the content to the second computing device.

8. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein the computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to output the content using the at least one speaker.

9. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein the content is profile information associated with the user.

10. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein the computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to adjust a volume associated with the at least one speaker based at least in part on a distance of the user to the computing device.

11. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein the computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to determine an identity of the user based on the captured information.

12. The computing device as recited in claim 11, wherein the computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to apply settings associated with the user, in response to determining the identity of the user.

13. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein detecting the presence of the user in the environment is also based at least in part on at least one of:

performing speech recognition on the captured information;

performing optical recognition on the captured information;

or

identifying the presence of a wireless signal of a device associated with the user.

14. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein determining that the user is moving in the direction substantially away from the computing device comprises:

determining a change in at least one of an audio signal strength, a sound map, or an audio signal frequency associated with the sound.

15. The computing device as recited in claim 7, wherein computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to:

send a command to the second computing device, the command causing the second computing device to query the user for an audible response;

in response to receiving the audible response, cause the second computing device to output the content.

16. A method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

providing audio content to a first computing device for consumption by a user of the first computing device;

receiving data from a sensor of the first computing device;

determining that the user is moving away from the first computing device based at least in part on the data from the sensor of the first computing device;

determining a location of a second computing device in response to determining that the user is moving away from the first computing device;

selecting the second computing device to output the audio content based at least in part on determining that the user is moving away from the first computing device; and

sending the audio content to the second computing device.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the data from the sensor of the first computing device comprises at least one of audio data received from a microphone, visual data received from a camera, or a network signal received by a network interface.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising continuing to provide the audio content to the first computing device concurrently with providing the audio content to the second computing device.

19. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising authenticating the user using the data received from a sensor of the second computing device.

20. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising providing profile information associated with the user to the second computing device in addition to the audio content.

21. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving first information from a first device within an environment indicative of a user being present within the environment;

providing the first information to a remote system;

receiving content from the remote system;

causing output of the content on the first device;

receiving second information from the first device indicative of a user moving in a direction substantially away from the first device;

providing the second information to the remote system;

determining a location of a second device within the environment based at least in part on the user moving in the direction substantially away from the first device; and

sending the content on the second device.

22. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 21, wherein the first information also includes audio data related to movement of the user.

23. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 21, wherein the first information also includes visual data of the user.

24. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 21, further having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving authentication credentials from the user;

providing the authentication credentials to the remote system; and

outputting the content once the user is authenticated.