Patent ID: 8805561
Filing Date: 2014-08-12
Classification: G06F,G10L,G11B,H04R,H04S

Abstract:
1. A method of an audio interface apparatus in which items are represented in an audio field by corresponding synthesized sound sources from which sounds related to the items appear to emanate, the method being performed with respect to an audio cursor in the form of a synthesized sound source that is movable in the audio field, the method comprising: moving the audio cursor in the audio field in response to input from a user input device, wherein the synthesized sound source of the audio cursor emanates a distinctive cursor sound; in response to the audio cursor being moved in the audio field to a position that is within a threshold distance to a given one of the item-representing sound sources, generating a related audible indication by modifying, in a manner that is perceptible to a user, the sound emanating from at least one of the given item-representing sound source and the audio cursor; outputting another unique sound in response to detecting that the audio cursor has been moved to coincide with the given item-representing sound source; and in response to user selection with the user input device that is responsive to the unique sound, changing a mode of the audio interface apparatus from a first mode to a second mode, wherein in the first mode the sounds emanated by the item-representing sound sources are output at respective positions in the audio field, and wherein in the second mode the sound of the given item-representing sound source is output without outputting sounds of other ones of the item-representing sound sources.