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US 6,611,196 B2Granted
System and method for providing audio augmentation of a physical environment
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsElizabeth D. Mynatt, Maribeth Back, Roy Want, Jason Ellis, W. Keith Edwards
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method are provided for implementing the transmission of information to users—via peripheral, or background, auditory cues—in response to the physical action of the users in a particular environment, e.g., the workplace. The system combines three known technologies: active badges, distributed systems, and digital audio delivered via portable wireless headphones.
Claims23
A system for providing audio augmentation of a physical environment to users, the system comprising:
- an active badge associated with each user continuously emitting a digitally encoded infrared signal, each badge having a unique identification information;
- a plurality of sensors positioned at selected locations in the physical environment for receiving badge signals, each sensor including a FIFO queue for storing received badge signals and having unique identification information;
- at least one poller that selectively polls the plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor sequentially downloads the received badge signals from the FIFO queue to the poller and wherein the at least one poller collects positioning information that associates the selected location with the unique identification information of polled active badges with a time that the each sensor was read;
- a first server for processing and aggregating the positioning information;
- a second server for storing the positioning information and processing queries, wherein the positioning information is stored in table form and updated by the second server;
- a plurality of service routines provided to the second server, each of the plurality of service routines determining a peripheral auditory signal for said each user based on the query processing of the second server, the peripheral auditory signal being in signal range other than in a subliminal signal range and other than a signal within a full conscious area of a person's recognition;
- means for transmitting the peripheral auditory signal to the user;
- and,
- means for receiving the transmitted peripheral auditory signal.
6 more elements
An audio augmentation apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of active badges, at least one of the active badges associated with a corresponding user, each active badge being provided with unique identification information;
- a plurality of sensors positioned at selected locations in a physical environment for receiving active badge signals, and having unique identification information;
- at least one poller that selectively polls the plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor downloads the received active badge signals to the poller, and wherein the at least one poller collects positioning information that associates the selected location with the unique identification information of polled active badges with a time each of the sensors was read;
- a server configured to process the positioning information, to store the positioning information, and to process queries;
- a plurality of service routines provided to the server, each of the plurality of service routines determining corresponding peripheral auditory signals based on query processings by the server, wherein a particular service routine of the plurality of service routines is selected dependent upon the positioning information, and queries related to the particular service routine are generated, the results of the queries generating a particular peripheral auditory signal;
- means for transmitting the particular peripheral auditory signal to the user;
- and
- means for receiving the transmitted particular peripheral auditory signal by the user.
5 more elements
A method of providing audio augmentation within a defined physical environment, comprising:
- carrying, by a user, an active badge which emits an identification signal;
- entering, by a user, into an area of the physical environment within which are sensors capable of sensing the identification signal;
- detecting, by the sensors, data emitted from the active badge;
- downloading the sensed data from one of the sensors to a poller;
- sending the polled data, which represents position data of a user, to a location server;
- sending the position data from the location server to an audio server;
- determining the user of the active badge and the location of the user, by the audio server;
- selecting a type of service routine to be implemented in accordance with the data regarding the user and the location of the user;
- implementing the selected service routine;
- loading a selected peripheral sound to the audio server, the selected peripheral sound selected based on the implementation of the service routine;
- and transmitting the loaded peripheral sound to the user.
8 more elements
A system providing audio augmentation within a defined physical environment wherein at least one user utilizes an active badge which emits an identification, the system comprising:
- means for detecting data emitted from the active badge;
- means for determining the user of the active badge and a location of the user wherein based on the location data it is determined the user is at a location assigned to a person other than the user;
- means for determining the user and a time the user has been detected at the location assigned to the person other than the user;
- means for determining a last sighting time of the person assigned to the location;
- means for comparing the time the user has been detected at the location and the last sighting;
- means for determining whether the last sighting was within a time period l through a time period n;
- means for selecting a service routine to be implemented based on the user and the location of the user;
- means for implementing the selected service routine;
- means for loading a selected peripheral sound to the audio server based on the selected service routine, wherein the selected peripheral sound corresponds to the obtained time period;
- and
- means for transmitting the loaded peripheral sound to the user.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.