The present disclosure relates to a musical instrument, and more specifically relates to a hand-controlled arpegiation controller musical instrument (or arp board), which may be physically embodied or virtually embodied on a touch screen, and method of use.
Research has established that studying music enhances academic achievement including areas of mathematics, science, geography, history, foreign language, physical education, and vocational training. For example, studies have shown that students with piano or keyboard experience performed 34% higher on tests that measure spatial-temporal lobe activity, which is the part of the brain that is used when doing mathematics, science, and engineering.
Studies have shown that music education can be used to enhance cognitive achievement in students. When a student is singing a melody with text, they are using multiple areas of their brain to multitask. Music positively impacts language development, increases IQ (Intelligence Quotient), spatial-temporal skills, and improves test scores. For example, music education has also been noted to have the ability to increase someone's overall IQ, especially in children during peak development years. Spatial ability, verbal memory, reading and mathematical ability are seen to be increased alongside music education (primarily through the learning of an instrument). Researchers also note that a correlation between general attendance and IQ increases is evident, and due to students' involvement in music education, general attendance rates increase along with their IQ. Fine motor skills, social behaviors, and emotional well-being can also be increased through music and music education. The learning of an instrument increases fine motor skills in students with physical disabilities. Emotional well-being can be increased as students find meaning in songs and connect them to their everyday life. Through social interactions of playing in groups like jazz and concert bands, students learn to socialize, and this can be linked to emotional and mental well-being.
Thus, the benefits of incorporating music, and specifically music making, on a person's well-being is well established. While these benefits of music making are clear, there are still many individuals who never learn or attempt to learn how to make music. For example, learning to play a new musical instrument can be an intimidating and imposing task.
An arpeggio is a type of broken chord in which the notes that compose a chord are individually sounded, for example, in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpeggios may include all notes of a scale or a partial set of notes from a scale, but contain notes of at least three pitches (two-pitch sequences are known as trills). Arpeggios may sound notes within a single octave or span multiple octaves, and the notes may be sustained and overlap or be heard separately. An arpeggio for the chord of C major going up two octaves would be the notes (C, E, G, C, E, G, C).
Arpeggios enable composers writing for monophonic instruments that play one note at a time (such as the trumpet, for example) to voice chords and chord progressions in musical pieces. Arpeggios are also used to help create rhythmic interest, or as melodic ornamentation in the lead or accompaniment. Though the notes of an arpeggio are not sounded simultaneously, listeners may effectively hear the sequence of notes as forming a chord if played in quick succession.
Any instrument may employ arpeggiation, but arpeggios are more commonly used on instruments that serve the role of melodic lead or ornamentation. Arpeggios may be used as an alternative to continuous portamento for instruments that are not able to achieve continuous portamento (or that have limitations in achieving portamento over multiple notes of a scale), such as keyboards, fretted instruments, and monophonic instruments such as the flute, for example.
Arpeggios are commonly used in many music genres and are particularly highlighted in genres with significant focus on melody and ornamentation, such as flamenco and neo-classical. Arpeggios are an important part of jazz improvisation. On guitar, sweep-picking is a technique used for rapid arpeggiation, which is most often found in rock music and heavy metal music.
Some synthesizers contain arpeggiators, which are step sequencers designed to facilitate the playing of arpeggios (as well as non-arpeggiated sequences). The arpeggiator is a synthesizer feature that outputs an arpeggio when the user presses down a chord. In other words, an arpeggiator receives an input chords and converts the input chords into arpeggios. For example, if user a plays any chord (for example, a basic C major chord: C, E, G, and high C), the synthesizer will play an arpeggiated sequence—a looping pattern with each of those notes—played one at a time. Before arpeggiators existed, complex arpeggiating required some skill to execute effectively. With the introduction of the arpeggiator, however, it became possible for anyone to use synthesizers, for example, to play arpeggios consistently and effectively with minimal physical effort, opening the doors to entirely new genres of music including industrial music and synth-pop.
An arpeggiator may include controls for speed, range and mode (the movement of the arpeggio). A conventional arpeggiator (and the conventional controls of a conventional arpeggiator), however, limited a user's ability to create custom arpeggiation patterns with custom parameters and/or modify arpeggiation patterns in real-time.
Due to such impediments as noted above with conventional arpeggiator approaches, many people never utilize arpeggiation at all and some people never fully utilize arpeggiation in their music. Other people may begin to learn to play with arpeggiation, but give up their endeavor due to the limitations of conventional arpeggiators. As such, many people never experience or maintain the benefits of music making on their well-being.
Consequently, there is a gap in the current state of the art. Thus, there is a need for a musical instrument with an intuitive interface for arpeggiation creation that does not pose impediments to immediate musical satisfaction. More specifically, what is needed is a device that allows anyone great flexibility and freedom of expression in playing arpeggiation in real-time, allowing for arpeggiation patterns to be easily varied during a real-time performance, without the need for any aptitude, dexterity, or timing skills, without the need for any knowledge of music theory or how to compose arpeggiation patterns, and without the need for any significant education, training, or technology or computer skills. There is a need for a musical instrument with an intuitive interface for arpeggiation music creation that doesn't require a significant investment in time and energy to learn in order to play sophisticated arpeggiation patterns in real-time simply and easily, in order to provide new creative avenues for beginner and experienced musicians alike.
Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a musical instrument that allows anyone great flexibility and freedom of expression in playing an arpeggiation in real-time, allowing for arpeggiation patterns to be easily varied during a real-time performance, without the need for any aptitude, dexterity, or timing skills, without the need for any knowledge of music theory or how to compose arpeggiation patterns, and without the need for any significant education, training, or technology or computer skills. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a musical instrument with an intuitive interface for arpeggiation music creation that doesn't require a significant investment in time and energy to learn in order to play sophisticated arpeggiation patterns in real-time simply and easily, in order to provide new creative avenues for beginner and experienced musicians alike.
Aspects of the disclosure are directed to an arpeggiation controller musical instrument operable to receive a user hand gesture and play an arpeggiation pattern. The musical instrument includes an X-Y pad operable to detect the user hand gesture. The user hand gesture sets one or more parameters of the arpeggiation pattern. The musical instrument also includes an arpeggiation generator operable to create the arpeggiation pattern based on the user hand gesture.
In embodiments, the X-Y pad comprises at least one of one or more MIDI polyphonic expression (MPE) controllers, a surface comprising a touch point, a finger-actuatable continuous controller touch point, an optical diode, a plurality of continuous touch sensitive strips, and a mini-touch screen display.
In further embodiments, the X-Y pad comprises a vertical center line and a horizontal center line.
In additional embodiments, an upward swipe on the X-Y pad produces an ascending arpeggiation pattern.
In yet additional embodiments, a downward swipe on the X-Y pad produces a descending arpeggiation pattern.
In embodiments, after performing a swipe gesture, continuing to depress or maintain contact with the X-Y pad at an end point of swipe gesture causes the arpeggiation controller musical instrument to repeat the arpeggiation pattern.
In further embodiments, the arpeggiation controller musical instrument repeats the arpeggiation pattern until contact with the X-Y pad is released.
In additional embodiments, the arpeggiation controller musical instrument repeats the arpeggiation pattern for a configurable number of repeats.
In yet additional embodiments, a length of the upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad determines a number of octaves in the arpeggiation pattern.
In embodiments, an upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad crossing a horizontal center line of the X-Y pad adds ½ octaves or one or more octaves above and below a single-octave arpeggiation dependent upon a vertical length of the upward-downward swipe.
In further embodiments, an upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad produces an ascending-then-descending arpeggiation pattern.
In additional embodiments, an upward-downward-upward swipe on the X-Y pad produces an ascending-then-descending-then-ascending arpeggiation pattern.
In yet additional embodiments, an upward-downward-downward-upward swipe on the X-Y pad produces an ascending-then-descending-then-descending-then-ascending arpeggiation pattern.
In embodiments, a rate of the upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad determines a speed of the arpeggiation pattern.
In further embodiments, a rightward-leftward swipe of the X-Y pad adjusts one or more parameters for the arpeggiation pattern.
In additional embodiments, a beginning point of the upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad determines a starting note of the arpeggiation pattern.
In yet additional embodiments, an ending point of the upward-downward swipe on the X-Y pad determines an ending note of the arpeggiation pattern.
In embodiments, a curved swipe on the X-Y pad establishes the parameters of the arpeggiation pattern based on both vertical aspects of the arpeggiation pattern and the horizontal aspects of the arpeggiation pattern.
In further embodiments, the parameters for the arpeggiation pattern include at least one of: probability of specific notes sounding; velocity variations; length of notes; gate variation; legato; and staccato.
In additional embodiments, the arpeggiation controller musical instrument further comprises one or more encoders for varying one or more parameters of the arpeggiation controller musical instrument.
In yet additional embodiments, the arpeggiation controller musical instrument further comprises one or more encoders for varying one or more parameters of the arpeggiation controller musical instrument.
In additional embodiments, the one or more parameters of the arpeggiation controller musical instrument include at least one of: a number of steps; sync quantization; order algorithm; transposition; introduction of randomness; sequencing of arpeggiated patterns; velocity; note substitution; key substation; key imposition; gate time; swing; MIDI channel; LFO parameter modulation; filter; effects; ADSR envelope modification; reverse; note repeat; polyphony; jumps; pre-defined pattern overlay; voicing; range; timing; cycles; division; pace; delay; rotation; harmony; tempo; probability; automation; and latching.
Additional aspects of the disclosure are directed to a method of creating an arpeggiation pattern. The method comprises receiving a user hand gesture on an X-Y pad operable to detect the user hand gesture, wherein the user hand gesture sets one or more parameters of the arpeggiation pattern; and playing the arpeggiation pattern based on the user hand gesture.
Implementing aspects of the disclosure provides a musical instrument with an intuitive interface for music creation that does not pose impediments (e.g., extensive knowledge and/or physical dexterity) to immediate musical satisfaction. For example, in contrast to a conventional arpeggiator, where it can usually take many months of daily practice to progress enough to actually produce hit patterns in real-time, with embodiments of the present disclosure, a musical instrument is provided in which neither extensive knowledge of arpeggiation patterns, nor dexterity are necessary to achieve immediate musical satisfaction. In other words, with the embodiments of the musical instrument of the present disclosure, it does not take significant time for a user to learn how to play the instrument in order to actually make more complex arpeggiation music. Additionally, implementing aspects of the disclosure provides a musical instrument with an intuitive interface for music creation that doesn't require a significant investment in time and energy to learn in order to play sophisticated arpeggiation patterns in real-time simply and easily, thus providing new creative avenues for beginner and experienced musicians alike.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a musical instrument that allows anyone great flexibility and freedom of expression in playing arpeggiations in real-time, allowing for arpeggiation patterns to be easily varied during a real-time performance, without the need for any aptitude, dexterity, or timing skills, without the need for any knowledge of music theory or how to compose arpeggiations, and without the need for any significant education, training, or technology or computer skills.
As such, by implementing aspects of the disclosure, many more people may more readily access and experience playing music, and thereby experience the resulting benefits of music making on their well-being.
The novel features which are characteristic of the musical instrument, both as to structure and method of operation thereof, together with further aims and advantages thereof, will be understood from the following description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and they are not intended as a definition of the limits of the disclosure. For a more complete understanding of the disclosure, as well as other aims and further features thereof, reference may be had to the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the following exemplary and non-limiting drawings, in which:
The novel features which are characteristic of the disclosure, both as to structure and method of operation thereof, together with further aims and advantages thereof, will be understood from the following description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and they are not intended as a definition of the limits of the disclosure.
In the following description, the various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with respect to the enclosed drawings. As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the embodiments of the disclosure that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.
The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the present disclosure only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The description, taken with the drawings, makes apparent to those skilled in the art how the forms of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in practice.
As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the indefinite article “a” indicates one as well as more than one and does not necessarily limit its referent noun to the singular.
Except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all examples by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by embodiments of the present disclosure. At the very least, and not to be considered as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should be construed in light of the number of significant digits and ordinary rounding conventions.
Additionally, the recitation of numerical ranges within this specification is considered to be a disclosure of all numerical values and ranges within that range (unless otherwise explicitly indicated). For example, if a range is from about 1 to about 50, it is deemed to include, for example, 1, 7, 34, 46.1, 23.7, or any other value or range within the range.
As used herein, the terms “about” and “approximately” indicate that the amount or value in question may be the specific value designated or some other value in its neighborhood. Generally, the terms “about” and “approximately” denoting a certain value is intended to denote a range within ±5% of the value. As one example, the phrase “about 100” denotes a range of 100±5, i.e., the range from 95 to 105. Generally, when the terms “about” and “approximately” are used, it can be expected that similar results or effects according to the disclosure can be obtained within a range of ±5% of the indicated value.
As used herein, the term “and/or” indicates that either all or only one of the elements of said group may be present. For example, “A and/or B” shall mean “only A, or only B, or both A and B”. In the case of “only A”, the term also covers the possibility that B is absent, i.e. “only A, but not B”.
The term “substantially parallel” refers to deviating less than 20° from parallel alignment and the term “substantially perpendicular” refers to deviating less than 20° from perpendicular alignment. The term “parallel” refers to deviating less than 5° from mathematically exact parallel alignment. Similarly, “perpendicular” refers to deviating less than 5° from mathematically exact perpendicular alignment.
The term “at least partially” is intended to denote that the following property is fulfilled to a certain extent or completely.
The terms “substantially” and “essentially” are used to denote that the following feature, property or parameter is either completely (entirely) realized or satisfied or to a major degree that does not adversely affect the intended result.
The term “comprising” as used herein is intended to be non-exclusive and open-ended. Thus, for example a composition comprising a compound A may include other compounds besides A. However, the term “comprising” also covers the more restrictive meanings of “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of”, so that for example “a composition comprising a compound A” may also (essentially) consist of the compound A.
The various embodiments disclosed herein can be used separately and in various combinations unless specifically stated to the contrary.
MIDI (/′midi/; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. The specification originates in the paper Universal Synthesizer Interface published by Dave Smith and Chet Wood of Sequential Circuits at the 1981 Audio Engineering Society conference in New York City. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device. Each interaction with a key, button, knob or slider is converted into a MIDI event, which specifies musical instructions, such as a note's pitch, timing and loudness. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, which the audience hears produced by an amplifier (e.g., a keyboard amplifier). MIDI data can be transferred via MIDI or USB cable, or recorded to a sequencer or digital audio workstation to be edited or played back.
A MIDI controller is any hardware or software that generates and transmits Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data to MIDI-enabled devices, typically to trigger sounds and control parameters of an electronic music performance. They most often use a musical keyboard to send data about the pitch of notes to play, although a MIDI controller may trigger other effects. Such a device provides a musical keyboard and perhaps other actuators (pitch bend and modulation wheels, for example) but produces no sound on its own. It is intended only to drive other MIDI devices. Electronic musical instruments, including synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, and electronic drums, are used to perform music in real-time and are able to transmit a MIDI data stream of the performance. Some are keyboard-only controllers, though many include other real-time controllers such as sliders, knobs, and wheels. Commonly, there are also connections for sustain and expression pedals.
A MIDI keyboard or controller keyboard is typically a piano-style electronic musical keyboard, often with other buttons, wheels and sliders, used for sending MIDI signals or commands over a USB or MIDI five-pin cable to other musical devices or computers. MIDI keyboards lacking an onboard sound module cannot produce sounds themselves, however some models of MIDI keyboards contain both a MIDI controller and sound module, allowing them to operate independently. When used as a MIDI controller, MIDI information on keys or buttons the performer has pressed is sent to a receiving device capable of creating sound through modeling synthesis, sample playback, or an analog hardware instrument. The receiving device could be:
A typical signal path for a MIDI controller may include, for example:
MIDI controller→five-pin MIDI connector or USB cable→computer running a DAW or a standalone VST/AU software instrument or a sound module or an electronic piano, stage piano, or synthesizer with MIDI capability→audio sound device (amplifier and speakers or headphones).
Control surfaces are hardware devices that provide a variety of controls that transmit real-time controller messages transmitted over MIDI or a proprietary format. These enable software instruments to be programmed without the discomfort of excessive mouse movements, or adjustment of hardware devices without the need to step through layered menus, for example. Buttons, sliders, and knobs are the most common controllers provided, but rotary encoders, transport controls, joysticks, ribbon controllers, vector touchpads, and optical controllers may also be utilized. Controllers may be general-purpose devices that are designed to work with a variety of equipment, or they may be designed to work with a specific piece of software.
Sequencers store and retrieve MIDI data and send the data to MIDI-enabled instruments in order to reproduce a performance.
Software synthesizers offer great power and versatility, but some players feel that division of attention between a MIDI keyboard and a computer keyboard and mouse robs some of the immediacy from the playing experience. In contrast, devices dedicated to real-time MIDI control provide an ergonomic benefit and can provide a greater sense of connection with the instrument than can an interface that is accessed through a mouse and computer keyboard.
Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a arpeggiation controller musical instrument, which plays and controls an arpeggiation pattern in real-time by use of hand gestures on an intuitive hand-controlled user interface. In embodiments, the hand-controlled user interface may be a physical user interface. In other embodiments, the hand-controlled user interface may be a touch screen user interface.
In this fashion, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure, the user with no special aptitude, dexterity, or timing skills can create or modify an arpeggiation pattern in a real-time performance. For example, without need for any knowledge of music theory and/or knowledge of how to compose or alter arpeggiation patterns, a user has great flexibility in varying arpeggiation patterns in real-time. And, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a user can begin using the arpeggiation controller virtually immediately, without the need for any significant education, training, technology, or computer skills.
System Environment
Aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure (e.g., an arpeggiation controller) can be implemented by such special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions and/or software, as described above. The control systems may be implemented and executed from either a server, in a client server relationship, or they may run on a user workstation with operative information conveyed to the user workstation. In an embodiment, the software elements include firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. In contemplated embodiments, the control systems may be embedded in the arpeggiation controller to make it stand alone. In contemplated embodiments, the arpeggiation controller and control system may be virtually implemented on a touch screen.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied as a system, a method or a computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, touch screen, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure (e.g., control systems) may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.
Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, touch screen, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, a magnetic storage device, a usb key, Bluetooth, and/or a mobile phone.
In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, entirely embedded within the beat player, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network. This may include, for example, a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). Additionally, in embodiments, the present disclosure may be embodied in a field programmable gate array (FPGA).
The computer system 3902 may operate in the capacity of a server in a network environment, or in the capacity of a client user computer in the network environment. The computer system 3902, or portions thereof, may be implemented as, or incorporated into, various devices, such as a personal computer, a tablet computer, a set-top box, a personal digital assistant, a mobile device, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wireless telephone, a personal trusted device, a web appliance, or any other machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that device. Further, while a single computer system 3902 is illustrated, additional embodiments may include any collection of systems or sub-systems that individually or jointly execute instructions or perform functions.
As illustrated in
As shown in
The computer system 3902 may also include a medium reader 3912 and a network interface 3914 connected via a bus 3918. The computer system 3902 may connect to another computer system 3920 via a network 3922. Furthermore, the computer system 3902 may include any additional devices, components, parts, peripherals, hardware, software or any combination thereof which are commonly known and understood as being included with or within a computer system, such as, but not limited to, an output device 3916. The output device 3916 may be, but is not limited to, a speaker, an audio out, a video out, a remote control output, or any combination thereof. As shown in
Furthermore, the aspects of the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. The software and/or computer program product can be implemented in the environment of
Although the present specification describes components and functions that may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols (e.g., MIDI, pads), the disclosure is not limited to such standards and protocols. Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functions are considered equivalents thereof.
While the computer-readable medium may be described as a single medium, the term “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiple media, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by a processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein.
The computer-readable medium may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium or media and/or comprise a transitory computer-readable medium or media. In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, the computer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatile read-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be a random access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally, the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or optical medium, such as a disk, tapes or other storage device to capture carrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmission medium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any computer-readable medium or other equivalents and successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.
While the specification describes particular embodiments of the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the present disclosure without departing from the inventive concept.
One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any particular disclosure or inventive concept. Moreover, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangement designed to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the description.
The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
Accordingly, the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
While the disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure. While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the embodiments of the disclosure. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. In addition, modifications may be made without departing from the essential teachings of the disclosure. Furthermore, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/618,113, filed Jan. 5, 2024, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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