# US 9,519,346 B2 · Low-frequency effects haptic conversion system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,519,346 B2 - Document ID: US9519346B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/277,870 - Filed: 2014-05-15 - Published: 2014-11-20 - Granted: 2016-12-13 - Earliest claimed: 2013-05-17 - Assignees: Immersion Corporation - Applicants: Immersion Corporation - Inventors: Robert Lacroix; Satvir Singh Bhatia; David Birnbaum; Christopher J. Ullrich; Amaya Becvar Weddle; Juan Manuel Cruz-Hernandez - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9519346B2 ## CPC - G10L 19/018: Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal - G06F 3/016: {Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user} - G06F 3/165: {Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path} - G10L 19/008: Multichannel audio signal coding or decoding using interchannel correlation to reduce redundancy, e.g. joint-stereo, intensity-coding or matrixing - H04R 3/14: Cross-over networks - H04S 3/008: {in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels (data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02)} - H04S 7/307: {Frequency adjustment, e.g. tone control (H04S7/301 takes precedence)} - H04R 2499/11: Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's - H04S 2400/03: Aspects of down-mixing multi-channel audio to configurations with lower numbers of playback channels, e.g. 7.1 -> 5.1 (H04S2400/01 takes precedence) - H04S 2400/07: Generation or adaptation of the Low Frequency Effect [LFE] channel, e.g. distribution or signal processing - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) - H04S: STEREOPHONIC SYSTEMS ## Abstract A system is provided that produces haptic effects. The system receives an audio signal that includes a low-frequency effects audio signal. The system further extracts the low-frequency effects audio signal from the audio signal. The system further converts the low-frequency effects audio signal into a haptic signal by shifting frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal to frequencies within a target frequency range of a haptic output device. The system further sends the haptic signal to the haptic output device, where the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to produce one or more haptic effects, the producing comprising: receiving a multichannel audio signal comprising a low-frequency effects audio signal; extracting the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; converting the low-frequency effects audio signal into a haptic signal by shifting one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal to one or more frequencies within a target frequency range of a haptic output device; embedding the haptic signal in a data stream that encodes at least the multichannel audio signal, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within the low-frequency effects audio signal; and sending the haptic signal to the haptic output device, wherein the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the haptic signal is sent to the haptic output device in real-time. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within a container or a streaming data format that supports haptic data encoding. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within a target frequency range of the low-frequency effects audio signal. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the producing further comprises resampling the haptic signal to a target drive frequency of the haptic output device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the producing further comprises down-mixing the multichannel audio signal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal are within a limited frequency range. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the limited frequency range comprises a range of 20 Hz-120 Hz. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal further comprises shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal further comprises shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal completely outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 11 A computer-implemented method for producing one or more haptic effects, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a multichannel audio signal comprising a low-frequency effects audio signal; extracting the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; converting the low-frequency effects audio signal into a haptic signal by shifting one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal to one or more frequencies within a target frequency range of a haptic output device; embedding the haptic signal in a data stream that encodes at least the multichannel audio signal, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within the low-frequency effects audio signal; and sending the haptic signal to the haptic output device, wherein the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising resampling the haptic signal to a target drive frequency of the haptic output device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal are within a limited frequency range. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal further comprises shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal further comprises shifting the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal completely outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 16 A system for producing one or more haptic effects, the system comprising: a memory configured to store a low-frequency effects conversion module; and a processor configured to execute the low-frequency effects conversion module stored on the memory; wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is configured to receive a multichannel audio signal comprising a low-frequency effects audio signal; wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to extract the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to convert the low-frequency effects audio signal into a haptic signal by shifting one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal to one or more frequencies within a target frequency range of a haptic output device; wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to embed the haptic signal in a data stream that encodes at least the multichannel audio signal, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within the low-frequency effects audio signal; and wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to send the haptic signal to the haptic output device, wherein the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to resample the haptic signal to a target drive frequency of the haptic output device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal are within a limited frequency range. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to shift the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, wherein the low-frequency effects conversion module is further configured to shift the one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal completely outside of the limited frequency range. ### Claim 21 A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to produce one or more haptic effects, the producing comprising: creating a multichannel audio signal comprising a low-frequency effects audio signal; extracting the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; creating a haptic signal; encoding the haptic signal within the low-frequency effects audio signal of the multichannel audio signal; and storing the multichannel audio signal within a container or a streaming data format that supports haptic data encoding. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the encoding the haptic signal within the low-frequency effects audio signal further comprises encoding the haptic signal within a target frequency range of the low-frequency effects audio signal. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The computer-readable medium of claim 21, the producing further comprising transmitting the multichannel audio signal. ### Claim 24 (depends on 21) The computer-readable medium of claim 21, the producing further comprising: extracting the encoded haptic signal from the low-frequency effects audio signal of the multichannel audio signal; decoding the encoded haptic signal; sending the haptic signal to a haptic output device, wherein the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects; and sending the multichannel audio signal to an audio output device, wherein the multichannel audio signal causes the audio output device to output one or more audio effects. ### Claim 25 (depends on 21) The computer-readable medium of claim 21, the producing further comprising: sending only the multichannel audio signal to an audio output device, wherein the multichannel audio signal causes the audio output device to output only one or more audio effects. ### Claim 26 A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to produce one or more haptic effects, the producing comprising: receiving a multichannel audio signal comprising a low-frequency effects audio signal; extracting the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; converting the low-frequency effects audio signal into a plurality of haptic signals by shifting one or more frequencies of the low-frequency effects audio signal to one or more frequencies within a plurality of target frequency ranges of a plurality of haptic output devices; embedding at least one of the plurality of haptic signals in a data stream that encodes at least the multichannel audio signal, wherein the at least one of the plurality of the haptic signals is encoded within the low-frequency effects audio signal; and sending the plurality of haptic signals to the plurality of haptic output devices, wherein each haptic signal causes the corresponding haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects. ### Claim 27 A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to produce one or more haptic effects, the producing comprising: receiving a multichannel audio signal that includes a low-frequency effects audio signal; extracting the low-frequency effects audio signal from the multichannel audio signal; converting the low-frequency effects audio signal into a haptic signal; embedding the haptic signal in a data stream that encodes at least the multichannel audio signal, wherein the haptic signal is encoded within the low-frequency effects audio signal; and sending the haptic signal to the haptic output device, wherein the haptic signal causes the haptic output device to output one or more haptic effects.