Voice control of a media playback system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11212612-B2
Application number	US-202017008104-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2020
Priority date	Feb 22, 2016
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

Multiple aspects of systems and methods for voice control and related features and functionality for various embodiments of media playback devices, networked microphone devices, microphone-equipped media playback devices, and speaker-equipped networked microphone devices are disclosed and described herein, including but not limited to designating and managing default networked devices, audio response playback, room-corrected voice detection, content mixing, music service selection, metadata exchange between networked playback systems and networked microphone systems, handling loss of pairing between networked devices, actions based on user identification, and other voice control of networked devices.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
after receiving a voice command via a networked microphone device associated with a media playback system while one or more playback devices in the media playback system are playing audio content, selecting one playback device of the one or more playback devices of the media playback system to play an audio response to the voice command based on (i) a direction of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device and (ii) a proximity of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device;
determining a directionality for the audio response to the voice command based on the direction of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device; and
while the selected one playback device is playing the audio content at a first volume level, causing the selected one playback device to (i) reduce its volume to a second volume level lower than the first volume level and (ii) while playing the audio content at the second volume level, play the audio response according to the determined directionality for the audio response.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting one playback device of the one or more playback devices of the media playback system to play an audio response comprises causing the networked microphone device to select a determined audio response zone, and wherein playing the audio response according to the determined directionality for the audio response comprises causing the selected one playback device to play the audio response within the determined audio response zone.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a controller device, an indication of an audio response zone to which the networked microphone device is assigned.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, to a computing device, an indication of an audio response zone to which the networked microphone device is assigned.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying acoustics of an environment in which the networked microphone device is placed to the received voice command.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after receiving an indication of audio content, determining at least one music service from a plurality of music services that supports the audio content; and
causing the at least one music service to transmit the audio content to the media playback system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing a metadata exchange channel between the media playback system and the networked microphone device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media playback system comprises a fallback device, the method further comprising:
before causing the selected one playback device to play the audio response, determining that another playback device is not available to play the audio response.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the received voice command was received from a registered user of the media playback system; and
in response to determining that the received voice command was received from the registered user of the media playback system, configuring an instruction for the media playback system based on content from the voice command and information in a user profile for the registered user.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received voice command comprises:
a command word, one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances.

11. A networked microphone device comprising:
one or more processors; and
tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the networked microphone device to:
after receiving a voice command via a networked microphone device associated with a media playback system while one or more playback devices in the media playback system are playing audio content, select one playback device of the one or more playback devices of the media playback system to play an audio response to the voice command based on (i) a direction of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device and (ii) a proximity of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device;
determine a directionality for the audio response to the voice command based on the direction of the voice command relative to the networked microphone device; and
while the selected one playback device is playing the audio content at a first volume level, cause the selected one playback device to (i) reduce its volume to a second volume level lower than the first volume level and (ii) while playing the audio content at the second volume level, play the audio response according to the determined directionality for the audio response.

12. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions that configure the networked microphone device to select one playback device of the one or more playback devices of the media playback system to play an audio response comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to cause the networked microphone device to select a determined audio response zone, and wherein the instructions that configure the networked microphone device to play the audio response according to the determined directionality for the audio response comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to cause the selected one playback device to play the audio response within the determined audio response zone.

13. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions comprise further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to:
receive, via the networked microphone device from a controller device, an indication of a particular zone to which the networked microphone device is assigned.

14. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions comprise further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to:
send, via the networked microphone device to a computing device, an indication of a particular zone to which the networked microphone device is assigned.

15. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions comprise further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to:
apply acoustics of an environment in which the networked microphone device is placed to the received voice command.

16. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions comprise further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to:
after receiving an indication of audio content, determine at least one music service from a plurality of music services that supports the audio content; and
cause the at least one music service to transmit the audio content to the media playback system.

17. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions comprise further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the networked microphone device to:
establish a metadata exchange channel between the media playback system and the networked microphone device.

18. The networked microphone device of claim 11 , wherein the selected one playback device comprises a fallback device, and wherein the instructions comprise

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Lang Jonathan P
• Plagge Mark
• Jarvis Simon
• Kadri Romi
• Chen Yean-Nian Willy
• Bates Paul Andrew
• Vega-Zayas Luis
• Butts Chistopher
• Millington Nicholas A J
• Corbin Keith

Classifications

• G06F3/165 Primary

  Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path · CPC title

• G10L21/02

  Speech enhancement, e.g. noise reduction or echo cancellation (reducing echo effects in line transmission systems H04B3/20; echo suppression in hands-free telephones H04M9/08) · CPC title

• H04R29/007

  for public address systems (public address systems per se H04R27/00) · CPC title

• H04R2420/07

  Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones · CPC title

• H04L2012/2849

  Audio/video appliances · CPC title