Occupancy based volume adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9613503-B2
Application number	US-201514628948-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2015
Priority date	Feb 23, 2015
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

Systems and techniques are provided for occupancy based volume adjustment. A signal including detected locations for several persons may be received. An occupancy model may be generated based on the detected locations. A volume adjustment for a speaker may be generated based on the occupancy model and a target sound level range for each of the detected locations. The volume of the speaker may be adjusted based on the volume adjustment. A signal including a detected location of one other person may be received. A location of other speakers may be received. The occupancy model may be generated based on the detected location of the one other person. The speaker may be determined to be closer to the one other person than any of the other speakers. The volume adjustment for the speaker may be generated based in part on the location of the one other person.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a data processing apparatus, the method comprising:
receiving at a computing device a signal from a proximity sensor comprising detected locations in a room for each of at least two persons;
generating at the computing device an occupancy model based on the detected locations;
determining one or more target sound levels associated with each of the detected locations in the room for each of the at least two persons;
generating a volume adjustment for a speaker controlled by the computing device based on the occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for each of the detected locations in the room for each of the at least two persons; and
adjusting by the computing device the volume of the speaker based on the volume adjustment based on the occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for each of the detected locations in the room for each of the at least two persons.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the volume adjustment further comprises optimizing the number of the at least two persons who experience a sound level from the speaker that is one of the one or more target sound levels for the detected location of the person.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the detected locations each comprises a detected distance to a person and a detected angle at which the person is located relative to a proximity sensor, the speaker, a hub computing device, or a fixed reference point.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two persons are located within the same room as the speaker.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a signal comprising an ambient noise level in an area near the speaker, wherein the volume adjustment is generated at least in part based on the ambient noise level.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a signal comprising a detected location of one other person, wherein the one other person is located in a room separate from the room in which the at least two persons are located;
receiving a location of one or more other speakers;
generating the occupancy model further based on the detected location of the one other person;
determining, based on the occupancy model and the location of the one or more other speakers, that the speaker is closer to the one other person than any of the one or more other speakers; and
generating the volume adjustment for the speaker further based at least in part on the location of the one other person.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the speaker is part of a smart home environment.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the proximity sensor is an active infrared sensor.

9. A computer-implemented method performed by a data processing apparatus, the method comprising:
receiving at a computing device a signal comprising a detected location of a person from a proximity sensor;
generating at the computing device an occupancy model based on the detected location;
receiving locations of one or more speakers controlled by the computing device;
determining, based on the occupancy model and the location of the one or more speakers, a speaker from among the one or more speakers that is an optimal speaker for the person,

wherein the optimal speaker is located in a first room, and wherein the detected location of the person is in a second room;
generating a volume adjustment for the optimal speaker based on the location of the person in the occupancy model and one or more target sound levels for the location of the person; and
adjusting by the computing device the volume of the optimal speaker based on the volume adjustment based on the location of the person in the occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for the location of the person.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving a signal comprising an ambient noise level in an area near the optimal speaker, wherein the volume adjustment is generated at least in part based on the ambient noise level.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the optimal speaker is located in a first room, and wherein the signal comprising the detected location of the person is received from a sensor located in a second room.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising sounding an alarm of a smart home environment over the optimal speaker.

13. A computer-implemented system for occupancy based volume adjustment comprising:
a proximity sensor adapted to detect locations in a room for each of at least two persons and generate a signal comprising the detected locations of each of the at least two persons;
a speaker adapted to play back audio;
a storage adapted to store an occupancy model;
a hub computing device adapted to receive the signal comprising detected locations in the room for each of at least two persons from the proximity sensor, generate the occupancy model based on the detected locations in the room, determine one or more target sound levels associated room associated with each of the detected locations in the room for each of the at least two persons; generate a volume adjustment for a speaker based on the occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for each of the detected locations, and adjust the volume of the speaker based on the volume adjustment based on the occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for each of the detected locations in the room for each of the at least two persons.

14. The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , wherein the hub computing device is further adapted to generate the volume adjustment by optimizing the number of the at least two persons who experience a sound level from the speaker that is one of the one or more target sound levels for the detected location of the person.

15. The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , wherein the hub computing device is further adapted receive a signal comprising an ambient noise level in an area near the speaker, and generate the volume adjustment at least in part based on the ambient noise level.

16. A computer-implemented system for occupancy based volume adjustment comprising:
a proximity sensor adapted to detect the location of a person and generate a signal comprising the detected location of the person
one or more speakers adapted to play back audio;
a storage adapted to store an occupancy model;
a hub computing device adapted to receive the signal comprising the detected location of the person, generate the occupancy model based on the detected location, receive locations of the one or more speakers, determine, based on the occupancy model and the location of the one or more speakers, a speaker from among the one or more speakers that is an optimal speaker for the person wherein the optimal speaker is located in a first room, and wherein the detected location of the person is in a second room, generate a volume adjustment for the optimal speaker based on the location of the person in the occupancy model and one or more target sound levels for the location of the person, and adjust the volume of the optimal speaker based on the volume adjustment based on occupancy model and the one or more target sound levels for the location of the person.

17. The computer-implemented system of claim 16 , wherein the optimal speaker is located in a first room, and wherein the detected location of the person is in

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Herman Kenneth Louis
• James Bryan

Classifications

• G08B21/02

  Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons · CPC title

• G08B3/10 Primary

  using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission · CPC title

• G08B19/00

  Alarms responsive to two or more different undesired or abnormal conditions, e.g. burglary and fire, abnormal temperature and abnormal rate of flow · CPC title

• G06F3/165

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

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title