Vehicle detection for media content player

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10555166-B2
Application number	US-201715858776-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2017
Priority date	Dec 31, 2016
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

A system for automatically initiating a travel mode of a media-playback device is disclosed. The system operates to evaluate vehicle presence factors and determine whether the vehicle presence factors indicate that the media-playback device is in a vehicle. Upon determining presence of the media-playback device in a vehicle, the travel mode is performed using the media-playback device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for automatically initiating a travel mode of a media-playback device, the method comprising:
evaluating at least one vehicle presence factor;
determining that the at least one vehicle presence factor indicates that the media-playback device is in a vehicle;
initiating a travel mode for media content playback using the media-playback device, the media content selected from one or more playlists;
using one or more thresholds of the at least one vehicle presence factor for determining a vehicle presence state within the travel mode and assigning a likelihood value to the vehicle presence state based on a similarity to pre-generated vehicle presence states; and
generating on the media-playback device a limited-attention media playback user interface based on the determined vehicle presence state within the travel mode, the limited-attention media playback user interface being configured to control the media content playback while the media-playback device remains in the determined vehicle presence state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vehicle presence factor is associated with the media-playback device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vehicle presence factor includes at least one of motion factor, user interaction factor, and environmental factor.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to evaluating at least one vehicle presence factor, detecting the at least one vehicle presence factor using the media-playback device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting includes:
detecting a motion of the media-playback device using the media-playback device; and
associating the motion of the media-playback device with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the motion of the media-playback device includes at least one of an arrangement, movement, acceleration, vibration, and orientation of the media-playback device.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting includes:
detecting a user interaction with the media-playback device using the media-playback device; and
associating the user interaction with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the user interaction includes at least one of a pattern of using the media-playback device, a pattern of playing media content items, and a pattern of using one or more software applications in the media-playback device.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting includes:
detecting environmental factors around the media-playback device using the media-playback device; and
associating the environmental factors with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the environment factors include at least one of sound, image, and temperature around the media-playback device.

11. A media delivery system comprising:
a processing device; and
at least one non-transitory computer readable data storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the media delivery system to:
evaluate at least one vehicle presence factor;
determine that the at least one vehicle presence factor indicates that a media-playback device is in a vehicle;
initiate a travel mode for media content playback using the media-playback device, the media content selected from one or more playlists;
use one or more thresholds of the at least one vehicle presence factor to determine a vehicle presence state within the travel mode and assign a likelihood value to the vehicle presence state based on a similarity to pre-generated vehicle presence states; and
generate a limited-attention media playback user interface on the media-playback device based on the determined vehicle presence state within the travel mode, the limited-attention media playback user interface being configured to control the media content playback while the media-playback device remains in the determined vehicle presence state.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the media delivery device to:
prior to evaluating at least one vehicle presence factor, receive the at least one vehicle presence factor from the media-playback device, the at least one vehicle presence factor obtained using the media-playback device.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one vehicle presence factor includes at least one of motion factor, user interaction factor, and environmental factor.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the motion factor includes at least one of an arrangement, movement, acceleration, vibration, and orientation of the media-playback device.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user interaction factor includes at least one of a pattern of using the media-playback device, a pattern of playing media content items, and a pattern of using one or more software applications in the media-playback device.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the environment factor includes at least one of sound, image, and temperature around the media-playback device.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage device storing data instructions, which when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:
detect at least one vehicle presence factor;
determine that the at least one vehicle presence factor indicates that a media-playback device is in a vehicle;
operate the media-playback device in a travel mode;
determine a vehicle presence state within the travel mode using one or more thresholds of the at least one vehicle presence factor and assign a likelihood value to the vehicle presence state based on a similarity to pre-generated vehicle presence states; and
generate a limited-attention media playback user interface on the media-playback device based on the determined vehicle presence state within the travel mode, the limited-attention media playback user interface being configured to control media content playback while the media-playback device remains in the determined vehicle presence state, the media content selected from one or more playlists.

18. The computer readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the data instructions further cause the processing device to:
detect a motion of the media-playback device using a vehicle presence detection device; and
associate the motion of the media-playback device with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

19. The computer readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the data instructions further cause the processing device to:
detect a user interaction with the media-playback device using a vehicle presence detection device; and
associate the user interaction with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

20. The computer readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the data instructions further cause the processing device to:
detect environmental factors around the media-playback device using a vehicle presence detection device; and
associate the environmental factors with one or more of the at least one vehicle presence factor.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising outputting selected media content items based on the vehicle presence state within the travel mode.

22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting attributes of media content item output between a normal mode and the travel mode, and between different vehicle presence states within the travel mode.

Assignees

• Spotify Ab

Inventors

• Schmidt Fredrik
• Oskarsson Johan
• Shoravi Shervin
• Johansson Peter
• Pompa Ronald
• Kennedy Lawrence
• Price Adam
• Choe Daniel

Classifications

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W4/48

  for in-vehicle communication · CPC title

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title