Position-Based Playback of Multichannel Audio
AssigneeSonos, Inc.
InventorsChristopher Kallai, Michael Darrell Andrew Ericson, Jonathan P. Lang, Craig Wisneski, Jonathon Reilly, Seamus Daly, Todd Mansfield
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Techniques for shaping sound based on a speaker orientation are disclosed. In an embodiment, an audio data stream is obtained by a zone player having one or more speaker drivers, an orientation of the zone player is determined, and sound is reproduced by the zone player based on the orientation. The sound may be further shaped based on other states of the zone player in addition to orientation. The overall sound may be shaped from one zone player or from a collection of zone players.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- determining a first position of a first playback device, wherein the first playback device comprises a first audio transducer oriented at a first direction and a second audio transducer oriented at a second direction, wherein the second direction is different than the first direction;
- receiving media content via a second playback device;
- generating first audio via the second playback device, wherein the first audio is based on (i) the received media content and (ii) the first position, wherein the first audio comprises a first portion and at least a second portion;
- generating second audio via the second playback device, wherein the second audio is based on the received media content;
- and
- causing output of a sound field according to the generated first audio and the generated second audio, wherein causing output of the sound field comprises playback of (i) the generated first audio via the first audio transducer and the second audio transducer of the first playback device, and (ii) the generated second audio via another playback device.
A second playback device comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program instructions executable by the one or more processors such that the second playback device is configured to:
- determine a first position of a first playback device, wherein the first playback device comprises a first audio transducer oriented at a first direction and a second audio transducer oriented at a second direction, wherein the second direction is different than the first direction;
- receive media content via the second playback device;
- generate first audio via the second playback device, wherein the first audio is based on (i) the received media content and (ii) the first position, wherein the first audio comprises a first portion and at least a second portion;
- generate second audio via the second playback device, wherein the second audio is based on the received media content;
- and
- cause output of a sound field according to the generated first audio and the generated second audio, wherein causing output of the sound field comprises playback of (i) the generated first audio via the first audio transducer and the second audio transducer of the first playback device, and (ii) the generated second audio via another playback device.
Tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing system to perform functions comprising:
- determining a first position of a first playback device, wherein the first playback device comprises a first audio transducer oriented at a first direction and a second audio transducer oriented at a second direction, wherein the second direction is different than the first direction;
- receiving media content via a second playback device;
- generating first audio via the second playback device, wherein the first audio is based on (i) the received media content and (ii) the first position, wherein the first audio comprises a first portion and at least a second portion;
- generating second audio via the second playback device, wherein the second audio is based on the received media content;
- and
- causing output of a sound field according to the generated first audio and the generated second audio, wherein causing output of the sound field comprises playback of (i) the generated first audio via the first audio transducer and the second audio transducer of the first playback device, and (ii) the generated second audio via another playback device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.