Abstract:
The disclosure relates to sound playback and editing apparatus. The editing apparatus uses user interaction to allow the user to instinctively modify recorded sound. This can be achieved by converting a quality of the user&#39;s physical interactions with the editing apparatus into instructions for processing the sound. For example, in one embodiment the user can mix sound files by ‘mixing’, i.e. shaking, physical representations of those sound files (such as the recording medium on which the files are stored) alone or together.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Sound editing is generally a complex process carried out by professional editors. Although in recent years sound editing software packages have become available for the home user, these require a high level of understanding of both the software package and of sound editing. In other, simpler, examples of sound editing, digital dictation devices may allow a user to add or insert a portion of audio to an existing recording. However, none of the present sound editing devices are particularly instinctive to a user. 
         [0002]    Various sound recording and playback devices already in existence allow the easy capture of sound data. Such devices range from, for example, memo-recorders (often incorporated in pens or the like, capable of recording only a few seconds of sound) through tape recorders and digital dictation devices and up to sophisticated recording and editing suites used for professional sound recording. All such devices have their place, in particular sound recording devices which are portable and easy to operate. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
         [0004]    The disclosure relates to sound playback and editing apparatus. The editing apparatus uses user interaction to allow the user to instinctively modify recorded sound. This can be achieved by converting a quality of the user&#39;s physical interactions with the editing apparatus into instructions for processing the sound. For example, in one embodiment the user can mix sound files by ‘mixing’, i.e. shaking, physical representations of those sound files (such as the recording medium on which the files are stored) alone or together. 
         [0005]    Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a portable apparatus for recording sound; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of a portion of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the playback device for use with the apparatus of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  shows a method for editing sound using the device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a sound mixer; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a schematic representation of a portion of the mixer of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  shows a method of editing sound using the device of  FIG. 5 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a representation of an object with a machine readable identity which can be associated with a remotely stored sound file. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a portable recording apparatus  100 . In this exemplary embodiment, the recording apparatus  100  comprises a holder  102  in the form of a cap arranged to retain a recording unit  104  in a friction fit. The holder  102  is mounted on a string  106  such that the recording device  100  can be worn about the neck of a user. 
         [0018]    The recording unit  104  is ergonomically shaped such that it can be held comfortably by a user, in this example comprising a rounded pebble shape. The unit  104  comprises two user input buttons: a retrospective record button  108  and a prospective record button  110 . The unit  104  also comprises a microphone/speaker  112 , a playback button  114  and store/edit switch  116 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  schematically shows the hardware and processing circuitry  200  arranged within the recording unit  104 . In addition to the buttons  110 ,  108 ,  114 , the switch  116  and the microphone/speaker  112 , the unit  104  comprises a microprocessor  202  which is arranged to receive inputs from the buttons  110 ,  108 ,  114  and the switch  116  and further arranged to send and receive audio content to and from the microphone/speaker  112 . The unit  104  also comprises a memory  204 , arranged to store audio content (and therefore the unit  104  comprises a storage medium), a transmitter/receiver device  208  capable of transmitting and receiving audio data, a motion detector  209  which includes an accelerometer, and a battery  210 . 
         [0020]    In use of the unit  104 , and in the absence of any other input, the microphone/speaker  112  receives ambient sound such as background noise, a conversation or sound deliberately supplied there to. The microprocessor  202  is arranged to store the previous minute of sound in the memory  204 , continually recording over (or otherwise deleting) sound received before the previous minute. 
         [0021]    Although a time of one minute has been specified here, the skilled person will appreciate that any different predetermined time period may be used. 
         [0022]    A user may interact with the unit  104  by pressing the buttons  110 ,  108 ,  114 . If the user presses the retrospective record button  104 , the minute of sound currently held by the memory  204  is archived as a sound file, i.e. it will be protected from being deleted or recorded over. Alternatively, the user could press the prospective sound record button  110 . This results in the unit  104  recording and archiving sound until the prospective sound record button  110  is pressed again. 
         [0023]    An archived sound recording can be deleted by pressing both the prospective  110  and retrospective  108  sound record buttons simultaneously. This results in the unit  104  returning to the ‘continuous record’ operation as described above. An archived sound recording can be played via the microphone/speaker  112  by pressing the playback button  114 . 
         [0024]    If desired, a user can remove the unit  104  from the holder  102 . This halts the ‘continuous record’ operation and enables the unit  104  and any sound recorded thereon to be stored for future play back of the sound. The behavior of the unit  104  thereafter depends on the position of the store/edit switch  116 . If the switch  116  is in its ‘store’ position, then any sound file stored thereon will be held in the memory  204  (although editing of the sound file(s) may still be carried out by other apparatus). If however the switch  116  is in the edit position then the unit  104  is in an edit mode and a sound file stored thereon may be edited as described below. 
         [0025]    In one embodiment, the unit  104  may be stored with other units  104  in a bowl  300 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The rim  302  of the bowl  300  comprises an identifying means, such as an RFID tag. When the unit  104  is moved past the rim  302  of the bowl, the transmitter/receiver  208  is arranged to detect that the unit  104  has passed the rim  302  by detecting the RFID tag. This is interpreted by the microprocessor  202  such that the microprocessor causes the recorded sound stored in the memory  204  to be played back. If the store/edit switch  116  is in the ‘store’ position, then there will be no further editing. If however the switch  116  is in the edit position, then editing processes will be carried out as described below. 
         [0026]    Methods for editing the recorded sound are now described. 
         [0027]    In a first method, described with reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 4 , the microprocessors  202  of two or more units  104  which have been removed from their holders  102  are arranged to interact with one another to mix or join the sound recordings stored in the memory  204  of each unit  104 . In such embodiments, the units  104  themselves are arranged to act as sound editing apparatus. 
         [0028]    First, two or more units are collected (block  352 ). The unit  104  is arranged such that the act of removing each unit  104  from its holder  102  allows the microprocessor to receive inputs from the motion detector  209 . Further, removing the holder  102  causes the microprocessor  202  to activate the transmitter/receiver  208 , which periodically emits a signal. If the transmitter/receiver  208  of another unit  104  receives this signal, it will send a response. In this embodiment, the transmitter/receivers  208  have a short range of around 2 to 5 cm. Therefore, on receipt of a response signal, a unit  104  will ‘know’ that another unit  104  is in close proximity. The user must also place the store/edit switch  116  in its edit position if editing is to be carried out (block  353 ). 
         [0029]    By allowing the units  104  which are in close proximity to physically interact in different ways (block  354 ), different audio editing effects can be achieved. For example, by ‘clicking’ two units  104  together (block  356 ) (which results in a characteristic deceleration which is detected by the motion detector  209 ), the sound file stored on one unit  104  is transmitted as a data signal via the transmitter/receiver  208  to the transmitter/receiver  208  of the second unit  104  (block  358 ). The microprocessor  202  of the second unit  104  then ‘stitches’ (i.e. joins the files together) the transmitted data onto the data representing the sound stored in its memory  204 . The effect is such that if the playback button  114  on the second unit  104  is now pressed, the portions of audio will be played one after another. 
         [0030]    Alternatively, the user could mix the sound on two or more units  104  by holding them in one or two cupped hands and shaking them together, or by shaking or mixing the units  104  in the bowl  300  (block  360 ). This ‘shaking’ action would result in a characteristic acceleration pattern which would be detected by the motion detector  209 . Again this would cause the data representing the recorded sounds to be transmitted to a common unit  104  (block  362 ). On play back of one unit  104 , the sounds would be played on top of one another. A listener would hear an electronic mix of the sounds. The sound file in the memory  204  of other unit  100  would, in this embodiment, be deleted. 
         [0031]    A user could interact with a single unit  104  by turning it through the air. This results in a characteristic acceleration which is detected by the motion detector  209  and which is interpreted by the microprocessor  202  to control the volume of playback. In this example, the arrangement is such that a sharp clockwise twisting of a unit  104  held to face a user results in an increase in volume and an anticlockwise twisting results in a decrease in volume, i.e. the user will interact with the unit  104  as a whole in the same way that would be instinctive to the user from use of a volume knob on a radio or the like. 
         [0032]    A user could also interact with a single unit  104  by shaking it. If a unit  104  is shaken and no other unit  104  is detected as being close by, then, in this embodiment, the microprocessor  202  is arranged to ‘scramble’ the content of the sound files by taking portions of the sound and re-ordering them, such that, on playback, the sound is heard out of the order in which it was recorded. The more a unit  104  is shaken, the more the portions are shuffled and the sound file re-divided. In other embodiments, the act of shaking the unit  104  may be mirrored by adding a reverberation effect instead of, or as well as, scrambling the sound file. A reverberation effect imitates an echo, i.e. a sound which is bouncing off walls, which mirrors the manner in which a solid object would bounce of the walls of a container in which it was shaken. 
         [0033]    In an alternative embodiment, a separate sound mixer  400  may be employed as a sound editing apparatus such as is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0034]    As in the methods described above, the sound mixer  400  allows the user to edit the sound instinctively as the physical actions that are taken mirror the processing of the stored sound files. In this embodiment, the sound mixer  400  comprises a transparent plastic box  402  with a lid portion  404 . The lid portion  404  houses a play button  406  and processing circuitry as is shown schematically in  FIG. 6 . There is a slot  408  in the lid portion  404  through which units  104  may be placed into the box  402 . 
         [0035]    As is shown schematically in  FIG. 6  the lid portion  404  houses an electronic signal receiver module  502 , capable of receiving a data signal from a unit  104 , a microprocessor  504 , a memory  506 , a motion detector  508 , a speaker  510 , and a battery  512 . 
         [0036]    In use, sound stored on units  104  can be edited as now described with reference to the flow chart of  FIG. 7  (whatever the position of the edit/store switch  116 ). A unit  104  can be fed through the slot  408  (block  552 ) and any sound data stored in its memory  204  is read (block  554 ), is transmitted via the transmitter/receiver  208  to the receiver  502  of the mixer  400 , and then stored in the memory  506  of the mixer (block  556 ). If a second unit  104  is then fed through the slot  404  (block  558 ), its recorded sound is also read (block  560 ) and stored in the mixer&#39;s memory  506  (block  562 ). As a default, these stored sounds are stored separately from one another but are linked together, one after another, and will be played back through the speaker  510  in the order in which the units  104  were placed in the box  402  on activation of the play button  406 . 
         [0037]    However, the user can further edit the sound by shaking the mixer  400  (block  564 ). This action, which is detected by the motion detector  508 , results in the sound files being mixed together by the microprocessor  504  (block  566 ). In this embodiment, the longer the mixer  400  is shaken, the more the recorded sound data is mixed. Equally, shaking the box  400  vigorously results in a more jumbled result than shaking gently. In this embodiment, the microprocessor  504  is arranged to determine the volume levels of the sound files stored on the units  104  and to balance the sound levels across the files on mixing them. The microprocessor  504  repeatedly takes portions of the sound files and rearranges them randomly for as long as the mixer  400  is shaken. 
         [0038]    Although the above embodiment has been described in terms of a sound recording unit as shown in  FIG. 1 , it will be appreciated that other sound recording devices may be used. For example, sound recording units such as digital dictation or memo devices could be used. Alternatively, the mixer  400  may be used with ‘audio-paper’ tape, using digital paper bearing a representation of sound or a barcode. In such embodiments, the receiver module  502  of the mixer  400  may be replaced with an optical scanning device capable of reading the digital paper or bar code. Indeed, the receiver/scanning device may not be arranged to receive or read data representing the stored sound directly, but instead be capable of identifying the unit  104  or other recording medium or indeed a separate object with an identity associated with a sound file (for example, a block containing an RFID tag from another source (e.g. the Internet or a local mass storage device) using that identity. An example of such an object  600  with an RFID tag  602  is shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0039]    In some embodiments, there may be more than one type of sound recording apparatus provided. For example, the units  104  described herein may be arranged to cooperate with a sound recording storage device. The arrangement could be such that tapping one of the units  104  onto this sound recording storage device could transfer the sound files from the unit  104  to the sound recording storage device. Shaking the sound recording storage device could result in the content of the stored sound files being re-ordered (scrambled). 
         [0040]    In another embodiment, a unit  104  may comprise at least two dividable sections each of which comprises a memory capable of holding a sound file. In such an embodiment, dividing the sections may cause any sound files stored thereon to be divided among the sections. 
         [0041]    The various editing processes described above are instinctive to a user as the physical action taken by the user mirrors the result of the editing process. That is to say, feeding the units  104  or other recording media into the sound mixer  400  one after another results in the sound files stored thereon being associated such that they may be played back one after another in the order in which they are fed into the mixer  400 . ‘Mixing’ the units  104  or other media in the sound mixer  400  by shaking it results in the sound stored on the individual media becoming intermingled, i.e. mixed, and the more the mixer  400  is shaken to mix the media, the more the sound is intermingled. A similar statement applies to shaking units  104  together. Shaking a single unit  104  results in a sound file stored thereon becoming re-ordered or scrambled (in other embodiments, shaking a single unit may result in a reverberation effect). Knocking units  104  together mirrors the result of the editing in that the stored sound is ‘knocked’ from one unit  104  to another. Turning the units  104  in space turns the volume up or down. 
       CONCLUSION 
       [0042]    The term ‘microprocessor’ is used herein to refer to any device with processing capability such that it can execute instructions. Those skilled in the art will realize that such processing capabilities are incorporated into many different devices and therefore the hardware such as PCs, servers, mobile telephones, personal digital assistants and many other devices could be modified to carry out the methods described herein. 
         [0043]    The methods described herein may be performed by software in machine readable form on a tangible storage medium. The software can be suitable for execution on a parallel processor or a serial processor such that the method steps may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously. 
         [0044]    This acknowledges that software can be a valuable, separately tradable commodity. It is intended to encompass software, which runs on or controls “dumb” or standard hardware, to carry out the desired functions. It is also intended to encompass software which “describes” or defines the configuration of hardware, such as HDL (hardware description language) software, as is used for designing silicon chips, or for configuring universal programmable chips, to carry out desired functions. 
         [0045]    Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized to store program instructions on data files can be distributed across a network. For example, a remote computer may store an example of the process described herein. A local or terminal computer may access the remote computer and download a part or all of the software to run the program. Alternatively, the local computer may download pieces of the software as needed, or execute some software instructions at the local terminal and some at the remote computer (or computer network). Those skilled in the art will also realize that by utilizing conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art that all, or a portion of the software instructions may be carried out by a dedicated circuit, such as a DSP, programmable logic array, or the like. 
         [0046]    Any range or device value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought, as will be apparent to the skilled person. In addition, the disclosure is not limited shape or form of the embodiments shown in the figures. While the unit  104  has been described a ‘pebble-shaped’, it need not be. In addition, the shape and configuration of the displayed elements, such as the position and of the buttons and the speaker, are not limiting. The bowl  300  may be any shape and the identifying means need not be arranged about the rim of the bowl. The mixer  400  is shown as cuboid but may be any shape. Equally, the slot  408  may be in a different location or of a different shape. 
         [0047]    It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. It will further be understood that reference to ‘an’ item refers to one or more of those items. 
         [0048]    The steps of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples without losing the effect sought. 
         [0049]    It will be understood that the above description of a preferred embodiment is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification and examples provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments of the invention. Although various embodiments of the invention have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.