Patent Application
20080211661
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to mobile audio playback devices, and more particularly to audio playback devices that are controlled in part by external conditions such as their location, the time of day, traffic conditions or weather.
2. Description of the Related Art
AM/FM radios, HD radios, GPS navigational devices, satellite radios, MP3 players, and DVD players, CD players, are relatively common devices used in motor vehicles. When a song or a recording is played on such devices, they typically continue to play to the end of the song or the recording is reached or until the operator intervenes and manually terminates the song or the recording.
It is generally believed that devices operated in a motor vehicle, such as cellular telephones, PDA's, MP3 players and radios, are distracting to drivers while driving and a major cause of motor vehicle accidents. In response, many municipalities have promulgating rules and regulations to prevent such devices from being operated by the driver while driving.
Aggressive driving and road rage are major concerns of law enforcement and transportation safety officials. Heavy congestion and stress are believed to be two possible causes of types of behavior. It is postulated by the inventor that certain types of music may be able to reduce stress and reduce these types of behaviors.
Commuter's who drive to and from work each work day typically do so at the same times of day. The commuter soon learns which radio programs are available at these times. In many instances, the radio programs that the commuter mostly enjoys are not available during the commute times. Many resourceful commuters have begun to record programs on their home computers connected to the World Wide Web and then transfer them onto an audio playback device for playback later in their motor vehicles. Unfortunately, the selection of different files and operation of these audio playback devices can also be distracting.
What is needed is an audio playback device that can be used to store selected audio files that can be automatically played back or at different selected times according to external conditions, such as the location, the time of day, traffic conditions and weather.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an audio playback device that can be used to store selected audio files and then programmed to automatically playback the audio files at different times according to external conditions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an audio or video file or recording playback device that automatically changes the audio file or recording played back according to the occurrence of one or more external conditions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an audio playback device that enables the user to create a playlist of audio or video files or recordings that automatically plays according to the occurrence of one or more of the external conditions.
These and other objects are met by a location based audio playback device that includes a permanently fixed or hand-held electronic device located inside a motor vehicle. Located into the working memory of the electronic device is an audio or video software program that collects and organizes files or recordings in a general menu, creates playlists, and then associates the files or recordings, or the playlists with an external condition. The software program creates an external condition menu page that allows the user to tag some or all of the audio or video files to one or more external conditions capable of being monitored and selectively chosen by the user. An external condition may include the motor vehicle's physical location, the motor vehicle's velocity, day of the week, the time of day, the outdoor temperatures or weather conditions. When the external condition occurs, the audio or video file, or recording, or playlist tagged to the external conditions is automatically played.
In the preferred embodiment, the electronic device is linked to devices designed to detect the occurrence of an external condition. One type of device may be a GPS based satellite receiver or GPS based cellular telephone capable of tracking motor vehicle's location, driving direction, and speed. The GPS receiver or cellular telephone may communicate with an external traffic monitoring service to provide continuous and intermittent traffic information on roadways in the vicinity of the motor vehicle. Such services could also provide weather information. The electronic device may be also linked to an internal or external clock, a date or calendar reporting program or device, a radio based, weather reporting device or to an outdoor thermometer.
As stated above, the software program includes a menu that couples an external condition to one or more audio or video file stored on the file storage device. When the specific external condition occurs, the individual audio or video files or recordings of the audio or video files of recordings in the playlist are automatically played. The driver or passenger does not need to manually selected files, recordings, or playlists. If a particular external condition occurs, the software program which automatically and continuously monitors for the external condition, automatically changes the audio and video files or recordings played according to the occurrence of the particular external conditions.
Referring to the accompanying
The electronic device 12, which may be a built-in computer, a personal digital assistant or a MP3 player, is mounted anywhere inside the motor vehicle 90. The electronic device 12 is connected to a dedicated electrical power source 40 or to the motor vehicle's electrical circuit 42. Connected to the electrical device 12 is a display or touch screen 34. Attached to the electrical device 12 if a non-touch display 34 is used, is an optional manual input device, such as a keyboard 38, a scrolling pad 39. Also connected to the electrical device 12, is an internal file storage device, such as a hard drive 60, or an external storage device, such as a flash card or drive 61. Stored on the hard drive 60 or flash drive 61 are a plurality of audio or video files 62 for playback through the motor vehicle's entertainment system 98 or through speakers (not shown) directly connected to the electronic device 12. It should be understood, that the electronic device 12 may be an ‘aftermarket’ product designed to connect to the motor vehicle's existing audio control system 98, or it may be integrally built into the motor vehicle's on-board audio control system.
When designed as a component that connects to an existing motor audio system 98, the electronic device 12 includes a central processor 14 and working memory 16. Built into the motherboard of the electronic device's 12 is a CMOS program 15 that tracks the time and date. Loaded into the electronic device's working memory 16 is an external conditioned audio file playback program 20 designed to store and organize audio files 62, to create playlists 63 contained selected audio files 62 and to control playback 62 of the audio files 62 or a playlist 63. The program 20 associates the playback of individual audio files 62 or a playlist 65A-C in the playlist data base 63 based on the occurrence of a particular external condition selected by the user. The electronic device 12 may include a data signal processor (DSP) 21, an amplifier 22, an audio output jack 24 and a FM transmitter 26.
During setup, the audio program 20 first conducts a scan to search for audio files 62 stored on the hard drive 60 or flash drive 61. The audio files 62 may be any audio file format used today, such as WMA, AAC, MP3 or MP4. Once the audio files 62 have been found, they are then presented in a first menu page 102 in a list format as shown in
The first menu page 102 shown in
In some instances, an external condition 116-120 may be coupled to a sub-category menu 125-129, as shown in
When the specific traffic condition is received by the computer, the audio files tagged to the specific traffic condition are played. The same process is used with all the other external conditions.
Using the above described system, a method for playing back audio files form a playback device, comprising the following steps:
a. Selecting an audio playback device capable of playing recorded audio sounds;
b. Selecting an external condition playback program that associates some or all of the recorded audio sounds with an external condition; and,
c. Exposing the playback device to an external condition so that the audio files associated with the external condition are automatically played back.
In compliance with the statute, the invention described herein has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features. It should be understood however, that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, since the means and construction shown is comprised only of the preferred embodiments for putting the invention into effect. The invention is therefore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the amended claims, appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.
This is a utility patent application which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/901,164 filed on Feb. 13, 2007.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60901164 | Feb 2007 | US |
