WO2012035471A1

WO2012035471A1 - A method and apparatus for selecting an audio item

Info

Publication number: WO2012035471A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/053926
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael De Regt; Wai Chung Lee; Kwun Leung Lee
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Current assignee: Koninklijke Philips NV
Priority date: 2010-09-13
Filing date: 2011-09-08
Publication date: 2012-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 2013-03-13

Abstract

Each audio item (213) has a plurality of attributes associated therewith. Each attribute has a corresponding attribute value. One item (215) is selected by displaying at least a portion of a plurality of audio items (213) along a linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of the plurality of audio items; moving a display marker (207) along the displayed linear path of the plurality of audio items (213) via user input (105); and selecting an audio item (215) at a closest distance to the current location of the marker (207).

Description

A method and apparatus for selecting an audio item

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for selecting an audio item. In particular, but not exclusively, it relates to a method and apparatus for selecting a song from a music library to generate a playlist for playback.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Consumers are now provided with ever increasing options for browsing and retrieving music items or songs. With increasing storage capacities and connection bandwidths, consumers now have access to enormous databases of content and have the capabilities to download increasing volumes of songs to be stored on playback devices such as MP3 players, Home Audio equipment or on computers. Therefore, there is an increasing demand to provide effective techniques for generating and organising large collections of music into playlists to improve browsing, navigation and retrieval of songs for playback using ever increasingly small playback devices.

The playlists may be organised according to various attributes associated with each music item, for example, playlists may be generated by arranging the music items according to artists, genre or most frequently played etc. The music items are then grouped according to the value of an attribute and are listed. However, the lists may become cumbersome making browsing and retrieval time consuming and difficult.

Furthermore, MP3 players have become increasingly small in size making displaying and hence browsing content more difficult. Therefore, there is a demand for a user interface device which is simple, intuitive, and attractive whilst providing effective browsing and retrieval of music items.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide a user interface device which is simple, intuitive, and attractive whilst providing effective browsing and retrieval of music items. This is achieved, according to one aspect of the present invention, by a method of selecting an audio item from a plurality of audio items, each audio item having a plurality of attributes associated therewith, each attribute having a corresponding attribute value, the method comprising the steps of: displaying at least a portion of a plurality of audio items along a linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of the plurality of audio items; moving a display marker along the displayed linear path of the plurality of audio items via user input; and selecting an audio item at a closest distance to the current location of the marker.

This is also achieved, according to a second aspect of the present invention, by apparatus for selecting an audio item from a plurality of audio items, each audio item having a plurality of attributes associated therewith, each attribute having a corresponding attribute value, the apparatus comprising: a display for displaying at least a portion of a plurality of audio items along a linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of the plurality of audio items; a user interface device for moving a display marker along the displayed linear path; a processor for selecting an audio item at a closest distance to the current location of the marker.

The audio item may be song which is selected from a playlist which may comprise a list of related songs.

In this way, a plurality of items can be arranged according to their similarities to each other according to at least one attribute making browsing and retrieval of music tracks more effective.

In an embodiment the display marker is moved along the displayed linear path by a rotary user input action. This provides the user with an intuitive user interface which is easy to use and requires minimal space on the panel of the user interface. For example, the rotary user interface may be a knob and turning the knob in one direction causes the marker to move in one direction and turning the knob in the reverse direction causes the marker to move in the opposite direction along the linear path. In another example, the rotary interface device may be a circular path defined on a touch-sensitive screen such that tracing a finger along the circular path in one direction causes the marker to move in one direction and tracing a finger in the reverse direction causes the marker to move in the opposite direction along the linear path. Since the user interface is rotary and requires minimal space, it is particularly suited for use in small devices. Further, the user interface device can be enlarged making it easier to use if the display can accommodate it. The linear path may represent at least one attribute of the plurality of audio items. It may comprise a first end and a second end, each end representing each extreme value of said at least one attribute. The plurality of audio items may be located along the linear path such that audio items most similar to the attribute value of the first end of the linear path are located closest to the first end of the linear path and audio items most similar to the attribute value of the second end of the linear path are located closest to the second end of the linear path. This form of the linear path best applies to certain attributes such as year, tempo, location, for example. However, for an attribute such as genre, the linear path may be arranged such that very different attributes may be next to each other, for example, for the attribute, genre, "pop" can be located next to "rock". Furthermore other methods may be used, for example, distributing a certain amount of pop songs around the pop marker (e.g. 205_2 of Fig. 2), where close to the marker are the pop-songs with certain secondary values (e.g. most played), the others are distributed in the available area according to the same specific secondary values

Therefore, the audio items can be arranged in an intuitive manner along the linear path making locating a particular item or range of items easier. Further, due to the arrangement of the items, individual labelling of the items is not necessary as the range, i.e. an attribute value is labelled enabling the display to be reduced and reducing clutter on the display making it easier and quicker to read. Furthermore, it allows searching and playing in a general direction rather than focusing on a specific track.

The currently selected audio item may be highlighted so that the user is provided with a clear indication of which of the items is currently selected.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of: as the marker is moved along the linear path and the currently played, selected audio item is no longer closest to said marker, select the audio item now closest to the new location of the marker, stop playing said currently played, selected audio item, and start playing said newly selected audio item.

In this way, a tuning-type of interaction is achieved providing the user with an immersive music experience having music played continuously which also provides the user with feedback by playing the music item which is closest to the marker as it is moved and hence the item that would be selected by the marker in that position.

The at least one attribute to be represented by the displayed linear path may be selected and changed by the user and the display may be changed to the linear path of the selected at least one attribute and consequently changing the display of at least a portion of said plurality of audio items according to similarity of the plurality of audio items to the selected at least one attribute. As the display of the linear path is changed, playing the currently selected audio item will comprise playing the audio item now closest to the marker on the new displayed linear path. The current playing audio item continues to play, while the linear path around it changes. As the attribute is changed, the location of the current playing audio item can change. The next audio item will be in relation to the new attribute (for example, the user is currently playing a "pop" song in Genre path, the next song could be a similar "pop" song. However the user changes the linear path (attribute) to "year". The current "pop" song is from "1992". The next song could be a song of any genre, e.g. "jazz" but from the "year" of "1992")

In this way a fuller access of the audio library of the user is provided and playback is still continuous, maintaining the tuning-type of interaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an illustration of the apparatus housing of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an example of display of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a simplified schematic of apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to Figure 1, the apparatus 100 comprises a housing 101 having a top surface which contains a slot 103 for releasably engaging a digital playback device, such an MP3 player, iPod or the like. The top surface also comprises control devices or user interface devices, such as knobs 105, 107 for tuning and volume control and a display 109. Although the control devices are shown as knobs in the present embodiment, it can be appreciate that they may comprise joystick devices, roller ball devices or the like or an interface device on a touch- sensitive screen such as circular paths, arrows or the like. The front of the housing 101 comprises a speaker system (not shown here). Although in this embodiment, the apparatus 100 is shown within a housing 101, it can be appreciated that the apparatus may be realized in software and be integrated within a computer, such as a pc, laptop, mobile telephone or the like, or alternatively, integrated with a playback device such as an MP3 or iPod.

An example 200 of the display 109 is shown in figure 2. The display 109 comprises a display area 201 which displays a linear path defined from left to right. The linear path represents at least one attribute associated with the audio items. Assuming that the linear path corresponds to the length of the display area 201, the linear path comprises a first end 202 located at the far left of the display area 201 and a second end 204 located at the far right of the display area 201. Each end 202, 204 represents each extreme value of the at least one attribute currently being represented by the linear path. A plurality of audio items are retrieved and are located along the linear path such that audio items most similar to the attribute value of the first end 202 of the linear path being located closest to the first end 202 of the linear path and audio items most similar to the attribute value of the second end 204 of the linear path being located closest to the second end 204 of the linear path. For example, the attribute represented by the linear path may be genre, the location of each value of genre, for example , "rock", "pop", "classical", "hip hop" etc, 203 1, 203_2, 103 3, 203_4 may be labelled with the corresponding value and displayed. The display may include a plurality of indicators 205_1, 205_2, 205_3, 205_4 at each location of each genre to locate along the linear path the centre of each value 203_1, 203_2, 203_3, 203_4. The indicators 205_1, 205_2, 205_3, 205_4 may be in the form of a line crossing the linear path. The retrieved, audio items 213 are displayed in locations along the linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of the retrieved audio items. In the Example above, 203_2 may be labelled "pop" and music items which are most similar to that value are displayed in the area of the corresponding indicator 205_2. The items may be displayed as dots or small lights 213 on the display. The display further comprises a display marker 207 which moves along the linear path between the first end 202 and the second end 204. The display marker 207 may comprise a highlighter bar as shown in the figure or a highlighted area of the display which may comprise any shape. The display marker 207 may cross the linear path across the width of the display area 201 as shown in Figure 2 to provide the user with a clear indication of its location relative to the attribute values 203_1. 203_2, 203_3, 203_4. In an alternative embodiment, the marker may be extended horizontally to span a range of attribute values, and the current song is selected from the range and played. The display area 201 may show only a portion of the plurality of items and moving the marker to one end of the display area 201 will cause the display to continue and display the portion of the linear path outside of the range of the current display area 201. The linear path may be continuous by looping the path so that each extreme end of the path meet for the purposes of a continuous display.

The display further comprises control devices 105, 107 (or user interface devices) which may be knobs located outside of the display area 201 along any side or at each end of the display. Alternatively, the control devices 105, 107 may a joystick device, roller ball device, keys on a keypad, touch- sensitive screen, or the like. In a further embodiment, the control devices 105, 107 may be integral with the display area 201 in the form of defined areas of a touch-sensitive screen. Alternatively, the user interface device may be in the form of a remote control device. The functionality provided by the control devices, 105, 107 may be extended, for example, prolonged pressing of control device 105 may cause Power on/off; pressing control device 105 may cause mute of the volume and pressing control device 107 may cause the attribute and hence the displayed linear path to be changed.

One of the control devices 107 may be used to cause the display marker 207 to move across the display area 201 along the linear path and the other control device 105 may be used to control the volume of playback of the music items.

The control device 107 may be in the form of left and right arrows on a touch- sensitive screen. A finger pressed on the left arrow causes the display marker 207 to move from the right to the left along the linear path of the display area 201 when the finger is released, the display marker stops moving. A finger pressed on the right arrow causes the display marker 207 to move from the left to the right along the linear path of the display area 201 and again when the finger is released, the display marker 207 stops moving.

Alternatively, the control device 105 may be defined in the form of a circular path such that tracing a finger along the circular path in a clockwise direction causes the display marker 207 to move from left to right and tracing a finger in an anticlockwise direction causes the display marker to move from right to left along the linear path. Releasing the finger would then cause the marker 207 to stop moving.

Similarly the volume of playback of the music item may be increased or decreased by pressing on directional arrows of the touch- sensitive screen or tracing the finger around a circular path.

As shown in figure 3, the apparatus 100 within the housing 101 comprises a display 109 which may have an appearance as shown in figure 2, user control devices 107, 105 which may in the form of knobs or a defined area of a touch- sensitive screen as described above and a processor 301. The processor 301 is connected to a storage device 307 which may be integral with the apparatus 100 or may be communicatively coupled to the apparatus via a wired connection or via a network, e.g. the Internet.

Operation of the apparatus will now be described with reference to Figure 4. A user selects at least one attribute, for example, genre, step 401. The linear path will be displayed on the display 109 representing the selected attribute. Music items, e.g. items purchased by the user and stored in the storage device 307 are retrieved, step 403, and sorted by the processor 301, step 405, such that the music items are arranged along the linear path as described above. The retrieved music items are then displayed in the display area 201 as described above, step 407. The user can then browse the items by moving the display marker 207 as described upon. The current location of the display marker 207 is then determined, step 409, and an item closest to the display marker 207 is selected. The item (215) may be highlighted by the dot representing the selected items being brighter on the display than the other items or highlighted by displaying concentric circles around the dot on the display representing the selected item or flashing the dot representing the selected item. Once selected the item is then played. If the user moves the display marker 207, step 415, its new location is determined, step 417, and a new item which is closest to the new location of the marker 207 is selected, step 419, the previously selected item continues to play and it is not stopped until after selection of the new item, step 421 and the new selected item is played, step 423. As a result music is continuously played as the marker 207 moves along the linear path. Further, the user is provided with feedback of the items within range of the marker 207 as it moves, making selection easier.

Once the item has finished being played, and the marker has not been moved by the user, the next nearest item is played. This may be in any direction or limited to the closest item to the last played item in one direction. Further the display marker 207 may move to a new location in which the new currently playing item is now closest to the marker 207.

A new attribute can be selected whilst a current attribute is being displayed and a current selected item is being played. The current played item continues to play until after a new display is generated for the newly selected attribute and the new item closest to the new marker is then selected and played. Again music is played continuously.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous modifications without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.

As will be apparent to a person skilled in the art, the elements listed in the apparatus claims are meant to include any hardware (such as separate or integrated circuits or electronic elements) or software (such as programs or parts of programs) which reproduce in operation or are designed to reproduce a specified function, be it solely or in conjunction with other functions, be it in isolation or in co-operation with other elements. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the apparatus claim enumerating several means, several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. 'Computer program product' is to be understood to mean any software product stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk, downloadable via a network, such as the Internet, or marketable in any other manner. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. 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.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of selecting (419) an audio item (215) from a plurality of audio items (213), each audio item (213) having a plurality of attributes associated therewith, each attribute having a corresponding attribute value (203_1, 203_2, 203_3, 203_4), the method comprising the steps of:

displaying (407) at least a portion of a plurality of audio items (213) along a linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of said plurality of audio items (213);

moving (415) a display marker (207) along the displayed linear path of said plurality of audio items (213) via user input (105); and

selecting (419) an audio item (215) at a closest distance to the current location of said marker (207).

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of moving (415) a display marker (207) along the displayed linear path comprises the step of:

moving (415) a display marker (207) along the displayed linear path of said plurality of audio items (213) via a rotary user input action.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said linear path represents at least one attribute of said plurality of audio items (213).

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said linear path comprises a first end and a second end, each end representing each extreme value of said at least one attribute, said plurality of audio items (213) being located along said linear path such that audio items most similar to the attribute value of said first end of said linear path being located closest to said first end of said linear path and audio items most similar to the attribute value of said second end of said linear path being located closest to said second end of said linear path.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprising:

highlighting said currently selected audio item (215).

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprising the step of:

playing (413) said selected audio item (215).

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

as the marker (207) is moved along the linear path and the currently played, selected audio item (215) is no longer closest to said marker (207), select (419) the audio item now closest to the new location of the marker (207), stop playing (421) said currently played, selected audio item (215), and start playing (423) said newly selected audio item.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprising the step of:

selecting (401) at least one the attributes to be represented by the displayed linear path;

changing the display to the linear path of the selected at least one attribute; and

changing the display of at least a portion of said plurality of audio items according to similarity of said plurality of audio items to said selected at least one attribute.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprising the step of:

as the display of the linear path is changed stop playing the currently selected audio item and select and start playing the audio item now closest to the marker on the new displayed linear path.

10. A computer program product comprising a plurality of program code portions for carrying out the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

11. Apparatus (100) for selecting (419) an audio item (2150 from a plurality of audio items (213), each audio item (213) having a plurality of attributes associated therewith, each attribute having a corresponding attribute value (203_1. 203_2, 203_3, 203_4), the apparatus (100) comprising:

a display (109) for displaying at least a portion of a plurality of audio items (213) along a linear path according to similarity of at least one attribute of said plurality of audio items (213);

a user interface device (105) for moving (415) a display marker (207) along the displayed linear path;

a processor (301) for selecting (419) an audio item (215) at a closest distance to the current location of said marker (207).

12. Apparatus (100) according claim 11, wherein said user interface device (105) comprises a rotary user interface device for causing movement of said display marker (207) by rotation of said rotary user interface.

13. Apparatus (100) according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus (100) further comprises:

a playback device for playing said selected audio item (215).