Digital device emitting a scent with an image and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9723905-B2
Application number	US-201514832687-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2015
Priority date	Sep 26, 2013
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A digital device including a scent emitting unit and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. The digital device includes a display unit for displaying a first image including a first object having a first scent property and a second object having a second scent property, a sensor unit for sensing a distance from a specific body part of a user, a scent emitting unit, and a processor. The processor controls the scent emitting unit to emit any one of a first scent, a second scent or a mixture of the first scent and the second scent according to the distance from the specific body part of the user, and a mixture ratio of the first scent to the second scent in the mixture is changed according to a predetermined condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A digital device comprising:
a display configured to display a first image including a first object having a first scent property and a second object having a second scent property;
a sensor configured to sense at least one of a distance from a specific body part of a user to the sensor or an external wind direction:
a scent emitter configured to emit a scent corresponding to an image; and
a processor,
wherein the processor is configured to control the scent emitter to emit any one of a first scent, a second scent or a mixture of the first scent and the second scent,
wherein a mixture ratio of the first scent to the second scent in the mixture is changed according to a predetermined condition, and
wherein the processor is further configured to:
control the scent emitter to emit at least one scent of an object corresponding to the specific body part of the user when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user is equal to or less than a first distance, and
control the scent emitter to emit the mixture in which a rate of a scent of an object closer to the specific body part of the user is larger than a rate of a scent of the other object in the mixture, when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user is equal to or less than a second distance and greater than the first distance.

2. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to emit the mixture, in which the mixture ratio of the first scent to the second scent is 1:1, when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user is equal to or less than a third distance and greater than the second distance.

3. The digital device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to stop scent emission when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user exceeds the third distance.

4. The digital device according to claim 3 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to emit any one of the first scent, the second scent, or the mixture of the first scent and the second scent, when a predetermined user input is detected only.

5. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the display includes a touchscreen, and
the processor controls the scent emitter to emit a scent of an object corresponding to a touch area of the touchscreen between the first scent and the second scent when touch input is received via the touchscreen.

6. The digital device according to claim 5 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to emit the scent of the object corresponding to the touch area of the touchscreen regardless of the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user when touch input is received via the touchscreen.

7. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first object and the second object has a depth perceived by the user.

8. The digital device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor determines an object closer to the specific body part of the user using the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user and the depth.

9. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor further controls a strength of the scent emitted from the scent emitter according to the distance from the specific body part of the user.

10. The digital device according to claim 4 , further comprising a user input interface configured to receive user input from a user, wherein the processor is further configured to control the scent emitter to emit at least one of the first scent, the second scent or the mixture of the first scent and the second scent according to specific user input received via the user input interface when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user exceeds the third distance.

11. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein the first image includes a still image or a moving image.

12. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the display displays a second image instead of the first image, and
the processor controls the scent emitter to stop emission of the first scent, the second scent or the mixture of the first scent and the second scent and to emit a neutralization material.

13. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to emit a neutralization material before emitting the second scent or the mixture when the scent emitted from the scent emitting unit is changed from the first scent to the second scent or is changed from the first scent to the mixture.

14. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein, when the scent emitted from the scent emitter is changed from a mixture having a first mixing ratio to a mixture having a second mixing ratio, the processor controls the scent emitter to emit a neutralization material before emitting the mixture having the second mixing ratio.

15. The digital device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor controls the scent emitter to emit the scent to the wind direction when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user exceeds the first distance.

16. The digital device according to claim 15 , wherein the processor further controls the scent emitter to emit the scent, a strength of which is changed according to the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user, toward the direction of the wind.

17. A method for controlling at least one digital device, the method comprising:
displaying a first image including a first object having a first scent property and a second object having a second scent property;
sensing at least one of a distance from a specific body part of a user to a sensor in the at least one digital device or an external wind direction;
emitting any one of a first scent, a second scent or a mixture of the first scent and the second scent;
emitting at least one scent of an object corresponding to the specific body part of the user when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user is equal to or less than a first distance; and
emitting the mixture in which a rate of a scent of an object closer to the specific body part of the user is larger than a rate of a scent of the other object in the mixture, when the sensed distance from the specific body part of the user is equal to or less than a second distance and greater than the first distance,
wherein a mixing ratio of the first scent to the second scent in the mixture is changed according to a predetermined condition.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Jihwan
• Lee Doyoung
• Chun Sinae
• Cho Eunhyung

Classifications

• G06F3/011

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