{
  "patent_number": "US 11178503",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Smart Speakers Adapt Sound to Your Room and Listening Spot",
  "original_title": "System for rendering and playback of object based audio in various listening environments",
  "summary": "This patent describes a system that automatically adjusts how spatial audio sounds in a room by sensing speaker locations, listener position, and room acoustics, then dynamically calibrating the sound output.",
  "what_it_does": "This system controls an audio environment by first automatically figuring out where each loudspeaker is located (claim 1). It also gathers detailed acoustic information, called loudspeaker profile information, from each speaker's individual sound-producing parts, or drivers. The system then automatically determines where a listener is sitting in the room. It takes in special audio data designed for spatial sound and uses microphones, some of which can be built into the speakers, to understand the room's unique sound characteristics. Based on all this information—speaker locations, speaker profiles, listener position, and room characteristics—the system renders, or processes, the audio data. It then calibrates this rendered audio to perfectly match the room and listener, providing the adjusted sound to the speakers. For example, if you add a new speaker, the system automatically detects it and adjusts the sound rendering (claim 9).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover audio systems where loudspeaker locations are manually entered or fixed, rather than automatically determined by the system.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not automatically determine the listener's position in the audio environment.",
    "Does not cover audio playback systems that only handle traditional stereo or mono audio, without spatial audio-based sound data.",
    "Does not cover systems that lack microphones to automatically sense and calibrate for the room's specific acoustic characteristics.",
    "Does not cover systems that cannot dynamically adjust their sound output when loudspeakers are added or removed from the setup."
  ],
  "filed": "2020-08-24",
  "granted": "2021-11-16",
  "expires": "2040-08-24",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Dolby Laboratories Licensing",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/dolby-laboratories-licensing",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Joshua B. Lando",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/joshua-b-lando"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christophe Chabanne",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/christophe-chabanne"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stewart Murrie",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/stewart-murrie"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alan Seefeldt",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/alan-seefeldt"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Phillip Brown",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/c-phillip-brown"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sripal S. Mehta",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/sripal-s-mehta"
    },
    {
      "name": "Spencer Hooks",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/spencer-hooks"
    },
    {
      "name": "Brett G. Crockett",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/brett-g-crockett"
    },
    {
      "name": "Brad Basler",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/brad-basler"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "telecommunications"
  ],
  "abstract": "Embodiments are described for a system of rendering object-based audio content through a system that includes individually addressable drivers, including at least one driver that is configured to project sound waves toward one or more surfaces within a listening environment for reflection to a listening area within the listening environment; a renderer configured to receive and process audio streams and one or more metadata sets associated with each of the audio streams and specifying a playback location of a respective audio stream; and a playback system coupled to the renderer and configured to render the audio streams to a plurality of audio feeds corresponding to the array of audio drivers in accordance with the one or more metadata sets.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11178503/system-for-rendering-and-playback-of-object-based-audio-in-various-listening-env",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11178503/system-for-rendering-and-playback-of-object-based-audio-in-various-listening-env/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11178503",
  "relatedPatents": [
    {
      "patentNumber": "11743673",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Smart Speaker System Adapts Sound Based on Speaker Placement",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11743673/audio-processing-apparatus-and-method-therefor"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "10743125",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How a Device Renders Immersive Sound Objects Using Speaker Virtualization",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10743125/audio-processing-apparatus-with-channel-remapper-and-object-renderer"
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      "countryCode": "US",
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    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "10276149",
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  ]
}