AUDIO SYSTEM WITH FORCE- WIRE CONTROLLER

The invention relates to a personal audio system. More particularly, the invention relates to an audio system including a force -wire user interface or controller for controlling the device by sending a control signal to the device.

Personal audio systems are known from the now ubiquitous mobile audio devices like MP3 players and mobile phones. One particular example of such a system is the iPod MP3 player from Apple as reviewed in c't 2002 Heft 26, pages 132-141,

"Plattenmeister" by Peter Nonhoff-Arps, Sven Hansen, and available with product no. M8737LL/A (see also http^/www _^ ^^le.corn/i^od/).

This and similar products typically comprise a set of two earpieces also known as ear buds that can be inserted into the ears of the user. These products typically also include a remote controller for controlling one or more functions of the device. A plug connects both the remote controller and the earpieces with the device, by plugging it into a socket of the device. Generally, the remote controller is usually included in the wire somewhere between the earpieces and the plug.

In such an arrangement, the remote control has no fixed position but dangles about as part of the wire. Hence, when the user wants to use the remote control for e.g. lowering volume, muting, or skipping an audio track or station, the user first needs to look for the remote controller. Subsequently, the user needs to get hold of the controller. This needs to be done in such a way that the controller has the right orientation for operating it. Finally, after being confident about the orientation of the controller, the user may try to find and operate a button to activate the desired function.

It is also known to incorporate a touch-sensitive area in an earpiece. For example, in published PCT patent application WO 2004/093490 Al, an audio entertainment system is described with an audio device and two earpieces for transducing audio. A first earpiece has a controller with input means for controlling the audio device. The input means have a touch-sensitive area. Based on a detection of the touch-sensitive area being touched, the audio device is controlled by means of a control signal sent from the controller to the audio device. This prevents the hassle involved in finding, manipulating and operating a conventional control that is typically dangling somewhere along a wire. The patent application also describes how to prevent accidental control actions. The earpiece may therefore have a further touch-sensitive area that makes contact with the skin when the

earpiece is being worn in or by the ear. The earpiece only sends the control signal if the further touch-sensitive area makes contact.

Further, non-prepublished PCT patent application WO IB2005/051034 describes a headphone that is equipped with touch controls, functioning as a remote control unit for a portable device. By tapping once, twice, or for a prolonged period of time, on the left or right earpiece, different commands can be given to the player, such as play, pause, next/previous, and volume up/down, phone controls, etc. These touch headphones combine multiple buttons into one thus searching is not needed with tactile senses, nor is as much space needed on the headphone), and makes it lightly operable (important for in-ear headphones).

However, both systems described above offer only a limited number of controls. The systems may also suffer from user operation error involving mis- or extra- touch conditions. Further, introducing more complex tapping patterns may reduce the ease of use in increase operation error. The present invention reduces or overcomes these limitations. The invention provides an audio system having at least one earpiece for transducing audio, wherein a first earpiece includes a first force-wire controller for receiving input to control the transducing, a wire connected to the at least one earpiece, wherein the first force-wire controller includes a touch sensing unit coupled too or integrated with a portion of the wire, and a pressure sensor unit to react to a force on the wire; and wherein the audio system is arranged to enable control when a force is detected on the touch sensing unit portion of the wire and the pressure sensor unit.

In one illustrative example, the touch-sensing unit is connected to a short metallic lead integrated in an audio wire, functioning as capacitive antenna. Only this part reacts to touch (grabbing) of the users hand. The pressure sensor registers a force (e.g. a pull action), by being mounted such that a thickened part of the wire pushes against the pressure sensor when being pulled. Alternatively, a push action can be used wherein the pressure sensor a configured to register a release of pressure on the pressure sensor. Only when both the grabbing by the users hand and the pulling/pushing is sensed, then the system will respond with control actions. When the wire is pulled/pushed without the user grabbing the part close to the earpiece, the system will not react.

Interaction with the wires attached to the earpieces is thus used to control a portable device. Gently pulling the wires, e.g. by a user's hand, results in control actions on the portable device. Different pull actions (e.g., once, twice, prolonged) can trigger different

control actions, such as music / radio / audio book playback control, phone control, switching applications, etc. The capacitive touch-sensing unit is used to discriminate intentional pulling of the wire by the user, from unintentional pulling of the wire when it accidentally hooks behind objects, clothing, furniture, etc.

The present invention will be more apparent from the following description with reference to the drawings.

Figs. 1 and 2 show diagrams of an audio system 100 according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows a close-up of the force-wire controller according to the invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same elements will be designated by the same reference numerals although they are shown in different drawings. Further, various specific definitions found in the following description, such as specific values of packet identifications, contents of displayed information, etc., are provided only to help general understanding of the present invention, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented without such definitions. Further, in the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the audio system 100 comprises an audio player, a set of earpieces 101 for transducing the audio from the player, with a first earpiece 102 having a force-wire controller 103. In this embodiment, the set of earpieces 101 is also referred to as headset or headphone, but it may comprise several headphones for sharing audio in a group of people.

The audio system 100 may be, for example, a device for the reproduction of audio from storage media like tape, disc, memory, CD, DVD, etc. It may also reproduce audio from signals like radio signals or packet streams broadcast via media like the air, wireless LAN, Internet, etc. The audio source may be portable as the device 110, but the audio may also originate from a home audio set. The audio system 100 may also be a communication or messaging device like a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (e.g. a gaming device, a communication device, a computing device, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a portable computer, a palmtop, a tablet computer, or an organizer, or a music

instrument, audio mixing table, dj-equipment, etc.). The audio system 100 has several functions or capabilities that alter, for example, the reproduction process, like a function to start playing the next track of a playlist, or jump to the next channel or station, or change a volume level, or change the reproduction speed, or start or stop a communication session, etc. The audio transduced may be generated in the audio system, for example, by playing it from a medium, e.g. an optical disk such as a BluRay disc, a DVD, a CD, a hard-disc, a solid-state memory. The audio transduced may alternatively or additionally be received by the audio entertainment system, for example, via a wireless interface, e.g. a wireless LAN, WiFi, UMTS, or via a wired interface, e.g. USB, FireWire, or via another interface.

The first earpiece may be an in-ear type of headphone or earpiece, a headset with a boom, a headband with a cup, or another type of earpiece or headphone.

As shown in Fig. 3, force-wire controller 103 includes a touch sensitive unit

104 and a pressure sensor unit 105. The touch sensing unit 104 is connected to a short metallic lead 106 integrated in an audio wire 107, functioning as capacitive antenna. Only this part reacts to a force or presence of the users hand, e.g. a touch or grabbing. The pressure/strain sensor 105 registers the force, e.g. pull/push actions, by being mounted such that a thickened part 109 of the wire pushes against or move away from the pressure sensor

105 when being respectively pulled or pushed. Only when both the grabbing by the users hand and the pulling/pushing is sensed, then the system will respond with control actions.

When the wire is pulled/pushed without the user grabbing the part close to the earpiece, the system will not react. The touch-sensing unit 104 is not limited to the touch sensing technology. Other embodiments of the invention include, but not limited to, conductive touch sensing, pinch sensing, etc. Further, the force- wire controller 103 is not limited to the pull/push sensing technology. Other embodiments of the invention include, but not limited too, are elastic -resistive materials, other mechanical constructions, switches instead of pressure sensors, springs, etc.).

The controlling may be e.g. increasing or decreasing a setting, for example, an audio volume, an audio balance, a tone color, or any setting for an audio effect like reverberation, chorus, etc. The control action may pertain to the audio, for example, selecting an audio source, e.g. an artist, an album, a track, a position in time of a track, or a playback speed.

The control signal sent by the force-wire controller 103 to the player device can take several forms. One example is that the control signal is an electric DC current that runs upon closing a circuit between a pair of conductors in the wire 107. Also several resistance levels between two pins (not shown) of the plug (not shown) may represent several control signals. Another example is an electric AC current or voltage with a particular frequency or frequencies. These frequencies may advantageously be above the frequencies perceived by a human ear, so as to be multiplexed on the same wire 107 that carries audio frequencies. Yet another example is a digital electric signal. Wire 107 may carry the control signal, but other media like air or fiber could also carry it, especially in the case of an electromagnetic signal.

The audio may be transduced by means of an electro -acoustic transducer like a voice coil speaker, a piezo speaker, a membrane speaker, or another speaker, but the audio may also be transduced by guidance to the ear through a tube.

The audio system 100 may comprise a second earpiece. The second earpiece comprises a second force-wire controller for receiving input to further control the transducing action. The audio system 100 may be further arranged to enable control only if the second earpiece is detected to be positioned for transducing audio.

The first and the second earpiece fit naturally in a right and a left ear, respectively, because of a substantial mirror symmetry between the first and the second earpiece. Alternatively, the first and the second earpiece may be substantially identical.

The invention may be applied, for example, for operating the deck-controls (play, pause, next, etc.) of an audio player.

The mapping of the user's force on the force- wire controller 103 to actions of the player may follow two user interface design rules: (1) frequently used functionality should be easily accessible, and (2) follow the Western convention of left to decrease and right to increase values. In line with these rules, the mapping of the different force patterns onto the player's deck and volume controls may be done as described in Table 1. Investigation indicates that people find this mapping intuitive and easy to learn.

Table 1 : Example of mapping force patterns to deck and volume controls force pattern j Function on left Function on right

Another possibility is to map a single force on either earpiece 101 to a toggle that alternates between a first state of playing and a second state of pausing. This has the advantage that both functions of pausing and playing are available at both earpieces 101. This measure provides greater convenience of invoking both functions with one hand with this mapping.

A basic pattern that can be detected is a short force, which consists of the touch-sensing unit 104 being initially pulled, for example, and subsequently being held for a short while, and subsequently being released again. The short while typically lasts between 40 and 300 milliseconds. Another basic pattern is the long pull, which typically lasts between 400 milliseconds to several seconds. Yet another basic temporal pattern is a repeated long or short pull or another sequence of long and short pulls. All of these patterns may each be mapped to functions or capabilities of the device 101. The detection of the pattern is preferably insensitive to deviations of the duration of the pull, like measured quantity levels and hysteresis. The detection of the pattern may adapt itself to the history of detected patterns.

One particular mapping may be, for example, that, in response to detecting a pull and hold, the device 101 gradually adapts a volume level as long as the pull. The direction of adaptation (increasing or decreasing the volume level) can be reversed with every pull and hold, or with a short pull in between.

To further enhance the user interface, the device 101 may provide immediate acoustic feedback in response to a pull. One example of such feedback is providing an audible hum or beep in response to a pull. Another example is that the audio feedback represents the activated function of the device 101, for example, by varying volume, pitch,

rhythm or melody or combinations thereof of the audio feedback. Yet another example of feedback is the use of a recorded or synthesized human voice informing the user about the activated function of the device 101 or about the capabilities of the device 101 and how to remotely control them. It is noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb "have" or "comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. Use of the article "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the entertainment device claim enumerating several means, several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.