Vehicle external speaker system
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsStuart C. Salter, John Robert Van Wiemeersch, Ross Dykstra Pursifull, Paul Kenneth Dellock, Kristopher Karl Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system includes a microphone mounted inside a vehicle, a speaker mounted outside the vehicle, a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of the vehicle, and a computer in communication with the microphone, speaker, and camera. The computer is programmed to, in response to data from the camera indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate the speaker to broadcast based on data transmitted by the microphone.
Claims20
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions to:
- in response to data from a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of a vehicle indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate a speaker mounted outside the vehicle to broadcast based on data transmitted by a microphone mounted inside the vehicle;
- and
- in response to location data indicating that the vehicle is at a prestored location, activate the speaker to broadcast based on data transmitted by the microphone.
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions to:
- in response to data from a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of a vehicle indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate a speaker mounted outside the vehicle to broadcast based on data transmitted by a microphone mounted inside the vehicle;
- and
- activate the speaker in response to the data from the camera only upon determining that a speed of the vehicle is below a threshold speed.
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions to:
- in response to data from a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of a vehicle indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate a speaker mounted outside the vehicle to broadcast based on data transmitted by a microphone mounted inside the vehicle;
- and
- activate the speaker in response to the data from the camera only when an object is within a threshold distance of the vehicle.
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions to:
- in response to data from a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of a vehicle indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate a first speaker mounted outside the vehicle on a first side of the vehicle to broadcast based on data transmitted by a microphone mounted inside the vehicle;
- wherein the gesture is a turning of a head of the occupant sideways toward the first side of the vehicle.
A computer comprising a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions to:
- in response to data from a camera with a field of view encompassing a seat of a vehicle indicating a gesture by an occupant of the seat, activate a speaker mounted outside the vehicle to broadcast based on data transmitted by a microphone mounted inside the vehicle;
- and
- deactivate the speaker in response to at least one of a speed of the vehicle exceeding a speed threshold or a turn of the vehicle exceeding an angular threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.