Abstract
While multiple smart devices may be present in a home environment and respond to spoken commands from a user, in current configurations, users can interact with only one smart device at a time. Based on detecting a spoken command from a user, a smart device that is close to the user’s current location within the home. generates and provides a response. This disclosure describes techniques that enable a user to provide a spoken command while facing or being near any object (an analog object or a non-smart device) in their surroundings, not necessarily a smart device, and to receive an audible response such that the audio appears to come from the direction of the object. In a calibration stage, relative topology of smart devices within a home is determined, e.g., distances and angles between pairs of devices are calculated. At the time of use, beamforming techniques are used to have microphones of multiple devices detect the spoken command. A response is determined and played back via multiple devices using a head-related transfer function (HRTF) to create an illusion of the audio coming from the object near the user. In this manner, the multi-device setup is used to create the illusion that the object can perform the smart function of responding to spoken commands.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Shin, D, "Converting Analog Objects into Speakers Using Intelligent HRTF Aware Panning", Technical Disclosure Commons, (December 19, 2023)
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/6506