Apparatus and method of outputting sound information
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsKeiko Morii, Tomohiro Konuma, Yumi Wakita
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An azimuth and distance calculator calculates the relative direction and distance to the next intersection to be guided, based on information on the intersection supplied from storage for received information on an object to be guided and information on the moving histories of a user. Then, the calculator converts the relative direction into a horizontal angle and the distance to an elevation angle, and passes the angles to a stereophony generator. The stereophony generator creates output sound information having a sound image localized outside of a headphone and outputs the information to the headphone. In this manner, the user can accurately understand the distance to the object.
Claims13
A sound information output apparatus including:
- an azimuth and distance information determination part for determining information on an azimuth and distance to an object to be guided to a user, based on information on a route to a position of the object and a moving direction calculated from information on a position of the user;
- a vertical position determination part for determining a vertical position of a sound source, based on the information on the distance determined by the azimuth and distance information determination part;
- and
- a stereophony output part for outputting a sound signal so that the sound source is virtually disposed in a place in which a horizontal position thereof is in front of the user and a vertical position thereof is determined by the vertical position determination part.
A sound information output method including:
- determining information on an azimuth and distance to an object to be guided to a user, based on information on a route to the object, and a moving direction calculated from information on a position of the user;
- determining a vertical position of a sound source based on the information on the distance determined by the azimuth and distance determining step;
- and
- outputting stereophony by outputting a sound signal so that the sound source is virtually disposed at a place in which a horizontal position thereof is in front of the user and a vertical position thereof is as determined by the vertical position determining step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.