Patent Publication Number: US-2012027217-A1

Title: Apparatus and method for merging acoustic object information

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0073054, filed on Jul. 28, 2010, which is incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The following description relates to Augmented Reality (“AR”), and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for merging acoustic object information to provide an Augmented Reality (“AR”) service in which images are merged with sounds. 
     2. Discussion of the Background 
     Augmented reality (“AR”) is a kind of virtual reality (“VR”) that provides images in which a real world viewed by a user&#39;s eyes is merged with a virtual world providing additional information. AR is similar to existing VR. VR provides users with only virtual spaces and objects, whereas AR synthesizes virtual objects based on a real world to provide additional information that cannot be easily objected in the real world. Unlike VR based on a completely virtual world, AR combines virtual objects with a real environment to offer users a more realistic feel. AR has been studied in U.S. and Japan since the latter half of the 1990&#39;s. With improvements in the computing capability of mobile devices, such as a mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (“PDAs”), and the development of wireless network devices, various AR services are currently being provided. 
     For example, details and additional information associated with objects in a real environment captured by a camera of a mobile phone are virtually created and merged with the image of the object and then output to a display. However, conventional AR services are image-based services and there are limitations to providing various additional AR services. 
     SUMMARY 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and method for providing an Augmented Reality (“AR”) service in which real images are merged with sounds. 
     Additional features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses an acoustic object information merging apparatus including: an acoustic objectization unit to estimate a direction and a location of a received sound, to classify a sound pattern for the received sound based on the estimated direction and location of the received sound, and to identify an object for the received sound based on the sound pattern of the received sound; an acoustic object information creator to acquire additional information about the identified object for the received sound, and to create acoustic object information therefrom; and a merging unit to merge the acoustic object information with a real image or real sound. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a method of creating acoustic object information associated with sounds and merging the acoustic object information with real images or sounds in a user terminal, the method includes: estimating a direction and a location of a sound received through a microphone array; classifying a sound pattern of the received sound based on the estimated direction and location of the received sound; identifying an object associated with a sound peak value of the sound pattern by referencing to a sound pattern database that stores sound peak values of a plurality of objects; acquiring additional information about the determined object to create acoustic object information for the received sound; and merging the acoustic object information with a real image or sound. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an acoustic object information merging apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a microphone array of an acoustic object information merging apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting an illustrative acoustic object information merging method according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure is thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements. 
     It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc. may be used herein to describe various elements or components these elements or components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or, component. Thus, a first element or component discussed below could be termed a second element or component without departing from the teachings of the present invention. It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layer or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     The following description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. Accordingly, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an acoustic object information merging apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     The acoustic object information merging apparatus (“AOIM apparatus”) includes an acoustic objectization unit  110 , an acoustic object information creator  120  and a merging unit  130 . The AOIM apparatus may be implemented in a terminal, for example, a cellular phone, PDA, desktop computer, tablet computer, laptop computer, etc. The acoustic objectization unit  110  estimates the directions and locations of a plurality of sounds that are received through a microphone array  100  to classify the sounds into a plurality of sound patterns and determines objects corresponding to the sounds according to the sound patterns. The acoustic objectization unit  110  determines objects corresponding to the received sounds according to sound patterns of the received sounds. In an exemplary embodiment, the sound pattern of the received sound may be sound peak values. The acoustic objectization unit  110  may include a beamforming applying unit  111  and an acoustic object deciding unit  113 . The beamforming applying unit  111  classifies sounds received through a microphone array  100  into a plurality of sound tones using a beamforming technique. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a microphone array of an acoustic object information merging apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. Generally, the microphone array  100  may be a combination of a plurality of microphones, and may receive sounds and additional characteristics regarding directivity, such as the directions or locations of the sounds. 
     The microphone array  100  receives sounds from different points a, b, c and d to determine the locations thereof, respectively. The sounds generated at points a, b, c and d forms a plurality of concentric circles centered on the microphone array. Accordingly, the microphone array  100  can obtain the angles and intensities of sounds received from the different points a, b, c and d. Sounds reach the microphone array  100  at different times because sounds are received from the points a, b, c and d at different times and accordingly the microphone array  100  can obtain the angles and intensities of the sounds generated at the points a, b, c and d. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , when a plurality of sounds is received by the microphone array  100 , the beamforming applying unit  111  classifies the received sounds using a beamforming technique. In an exemplary embodiment, the beamforming technique may be to adjust the directivity pattern of a microphone array to acquire only sounds in a desired direction from among the received sounds. The beamforming applying unit  111  acquires the directions and locations of a plurality of received sounds received by the microphone array  100 , using the angles and intensities of the received sounds. The beamforming applying unit  111  classifies the sounds into a plurality of sound tones according to the directions and locations of the sounds. 
     The acoustic object deciding unit  113  acquires sound peak values of the sound tones and acquires sound characteristic information associated with the sound peak values from a sound pattern database (“DB”)  115 . The sound pattern DB  115  stores sound peak values, which are sound characteristic information of various objects, such as a piano, cars, dogs and birds, etc. and information about the objects corresponding to the various sound peak values. However, aspects are not limited thereto such that the sound pattern DB  115  may be included in the AOIM apparatus and may be connected thereto in any suitable manner. The acoustic object deciding unit  113  acquires sound peak values of the individual sound tones classified by the beamforming applying unit  111  and objects corresponding to the sound peak values from the sound pattern DB  115 . In an exemplary embodiment, the acoustic object deciding unit  113  extracts the sound peak values of the sound tones using Discrete Fourier Transform (“DFT”) or Fast Fourier Transform (“FFT”). After extracting the sound peak values of the sound tones, the acoustic object deciding unit  113  acquires objects corresponding to the sound peak values of the sound tones from the sound pattern DB  115 . Thus, the acoustic object deciding unit may identify an object corresponding to each sound tone received by the microphone array. 
     When no object corresponding to at least one of the received sounds is acquired by the acoustic object deciding unit  113 , the acoustic objectization unit  110  may determine an object corresponding to the sound by using a filtering applying unit  117 . By way of example, the acoustic object deciding unit  113  may fail to identify objects corresponding to the received sound when two or more different sounds generated at the same location are simultaneously inputted to the microphone array  100 . In this example, the beamforming applying unit  111  may not distinguish the two or more different sounds from each other because the beamforming applying unit  111  may classify sounds received from the same location into one sound tone. Thus, the acoustic object deciding unit  113  may fail to identify objects corresponding to sound peak values of the individual two or more different sounds from the sound pattern DB  115 . The filtering applying unit  117  causes a received sound to be separated into separate sound tones using frequency and amplitude information from the received sound. The filtering applying unit  117  may classify the sound into a secondary sound tone by using a band-pass filter. The acoustic object deciding unit  113  acquires a sound peak value of the secondary sound tone classified by the filtering applying unit  117  and identifies an object corresponding to the sound peak value from the sound pattern DB  115 . By acquiring a sound peak value of a secondary sound tone, an object corresponding to the sound tone can be distinctly recognized even if the received sound is mixed with noise. 
     After objects for the classified sound tones are identified by the acoustic object deciding unit  113 , the acoustic object information creator  120  acquires details and additional information about the identified objects to create acoustic object information. The AOIM apparatus may further include an object information DB  121  which stores details and additional information about a plurality of objects. However, aspects need not be limited thereto such that, the object information DB  121  may be independent of the AOIM apparatus and may be connected thereto in any suitable manner. The acoustic object information creator  120  acquires details and additional information about the objects from the object information DB  121  to create acoustic object information. 
     By way of example, if a sound tone classified by the beamforming applying unit  111  is determined by the acoustic object deciding unit  113  to be a car sound, the acoustic object information creator  120  acquires information about the car such as car model information type and car-related additional information from the object information DB  121 . The acoustic object information creator  120  creates acoustic object information based on the car model information and car-related additional information received. The acoustic object information may be in the form of characters, pictures or moving pictures. 
     The merging unit  130  is used to merge each piece of acoustic object information created by the acoustic object information creator  120  with a real image or sound. The merging unit  130  includes an image information merger  131 , an acoustic information merger  133  and a sound canceller  135 . The image information merger  131  merges a real image captured by a camera of a user terminal with acoustic object information associated with the real image and output the resultant image onto a display of the user terminal. The merging unit  130  may merge the real image and the acoustic object information in response to a request from a user. By way of example, in an image captured during a meeting where multiple people are speaking in a meeting room. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the image information merger  131  merges the photographed real image with acoustic object information about the people who participated in the discussion. The image information merger  131  may output the resultant image onto a display of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus. In an exemplary embodiment, the acoustic object information may be in the form of speech bubbles merged with the real image. 
     The acoustic information merger  133  outputs acoustic object information associated with a real sound or merges the acoustic object information with a real image. The real sound may be received by a microphone of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus and the outputted acoustic object information may be outputted to the display of the user terminal. In an exemplary embodiment, the received sound may be stored in a user terminal of connected to the AOIM apparatus. The real image may be a captured image captured by the camera of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus and the image resulting from the merging may be outputted to the display of the user terminal, in response to a request from the user. By way of example, if the sound of music on a street is received through the microphone of a user terminal connected to an exemplary AOIM apparatus, then the acoustic information merger  133  may output acoustic object information including information about the music to the display of the user terminal, or may merges the acoustic object information with a real image and then output the result of the merging to the display of the user terminal. 
     The sound canceller  135  cancels sounds not corresponding to a selected object from among objects in an image. The user may choose the selected object image from images outputted to the display of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus. By way of example, a user may request, from an image of an orchestra performance captured by the camera of the user terminal, canceling of sounds corresponding to all musical instruments except the sounds of violins. If such a request is received, the sound canceller  135  then cancels sounds generated by the remaining musical instruments. Accordingly, the outputted acoustic object information the user may hear through the speaker of the user terminal may be the reproduction of the sounds of the violins. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting an illustrative acoustic object information merging method according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , In operation  300 , when sounds generated at a plurality of different locations are received through the microphone array, the AOIM apparatus uses a beamforming technique to estimate the directions and locations of the received sounds and classifies the sounds into a plurality of sound tones according to the directions and locations of the sounds. The beamforming technique may adjust the directivity pattern of the microphone array and acquire only desired sounds from among the received sounds. The AOIM apparatus uses the beamforming technique to determine the directions and locations of the sounds received by the microphone array, which may be, for example, based on the angles and intensities of the sounds, and thereby classifies the sounds into a plurality of sound tones. After classifying the sounds into the sound tones, the AOIM apparatus acquires a sound peak value for each sound tone. In an exemplary embodiment, the user terminal may extract a sound peak value for each sound tone using DFT or FFT. 
     In operation  310 , the AOIM apparatus identifies an object that corresponds to each extracted sound peak value by referencing a sound pattern DB in which sound peak values of various objects are stored. 
     In operation  320 , the AOIM apparatus determines whether objects have been identified for all the sound tones by referencing the sound pattern DB. 
     If no object has been identified for at least one received sound, in operation  330 , the AOIM apparatus uses a band-pass filter to secondarily classify the sound whose associated object has not been determined. For example, when the AOIM apparatus receives two or more different sounds generated at or near the same location and time through the microphone array. In this case, the AOIM apparatus may fail to classify the different sounds into different sound tones using the beamforming technique. Accordingly, the AOIM apparatus may not have determined an object corresponding to the different sounds in operation  310 . The AOIM apparatus classifies the sound whose associated object has not been identified into a sound tone based on the frequency and amplitude of the sound. Thereafter, the AOIM apparatus acquires sound peak values for each individual second sound tone classified by the band-pass filter. The AOIM apparatus then acquires objects having sound peak values corresponding to the sound peak values from the sound pattern DB. If at least one object is identified for a received sound, the method may proceed to operation  340 . 
     In operation  340 , after identifying objects for the individual sound tones, the user terminal further acquires details and additional information about the objects determined to correspond to the individual sound tones to create acoustic object information. For example, the AOIM apparatus acquires details and additional information about the identified objects determined to correspond to the individual sound tones by referencing an object information DB that stores such details and additional information about a plurality of objects. For example, where the object for a sound tone is determined to be a car, the AOIM apparatus acquires the car model information and car-related additional information and creates acoustic object information according to the acquired car model information and car-related additional information. The acoustic object information may be in the form of characters, icons, pictures or moving pictures. 
     In operation  350 , based on a user request, the AOIM apparatus merges each piece of the acoustic object information with a real image or sound. For example, the AOIM apparatus determines whether there is a user&#39;s request for merging at least one piece of the acoustic object information with a real image or sound. If it is determined that there is a user&#39;s request for merging at least one piece of the acoustic object information with a real image, the AOIM apparatus merges a real image captured by a camera with acoustic object information associated with the real image. The real image may be an image captured by the camera of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus and the image resulting from the merging may be outputted to a display of the user terminal. By way of example, in a photograph taken during a meeting where multiple people are speaking in a meeting room, the image information merger merges the captured real image with acoustic object information about the people who participated in the discussion. In an exemplary embodiment, the acoustic object information may be in the form of speech bubbles merged with the real image. 
     If it is determined that there is a user&#39;s request for merging at least one piece of the acoustic object information with a real sound, the user terminal may output acoustic object information associated with the real sound received. The sound may be received through a microphone of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus and stored in the user terminal of the AOIM apparatus. The acoustic object information may be projected onto a display of the user terminal. By way of example, when the sound of music on a street is received by the microphone of a user terminal connected to an exemplary AOIM apparatus, the user terminal outputs acoustic object information including information about the music onto the display of the user terminal. However, aspects are not limited thereto such that the AOIM apparatus may merge acoustic object information associated with a real sound with a real image and outputs the result of the merging onto the display of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus. 
     Further, the AOIM apparatus may cancel sounds corresponding to objects in an image on the display of a user terminal connected to the AOIM apparatus, according to a user request. By way of example, a user request for canceling sounds is received. The user request specifies violins, from an image of an orchestra performance captured by the camera of the user terminal, as objects whose sound is not to be canceled. Thus, the sound canceller  135  cancels sounds generated by the remaining musical instruments. Accordingly, the outputted acoustic object information the user may hears through the speaker of the user terminal is a reproduction of the sound of violins captured by the camera of the user terminal. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound, sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
       FIG. 4  corresponds to a case in which video for trial is captured by a camera of a user terminal connected to an exemplary AOIM apparatus. The AOIM apparatus objectizes participants participating in the trial based on the participants&#39; voices. Then, the AOIM apparatus recognizes the objectized participants&#39; voices using speech recognition to convert the voices into text, creates the text in a form of speech bubbles and then merges the speech bubbles with the trial video. Thereafter, if at least one participant is selected by a user from the merged trial video outputted onto the display of the user terminal, the AOIM apparatus may output speech bubbles created in association with the selected participant&#39;s voice onto the trial video and/or cancels voices of the remaining participants to output only the selected participant&#39;s voice through a speaker. Thus, the user can view or hear the speech of the participant through the display or speaker of the user terminal. However aspects are not limited thereto such that subtitles may be displayed on the display. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     In  FIG. 5 , a camera of a user terminal connected to an exemplary AMOI apparatus captures an image of an engine of a car. The AMOI apparatus objectizes sounds generated by the engine, which are received through a microphone array, merges acoustic object information (i.e., information about the engine parts) associated with the sounds with the real image photographed by the camera, and outputs acoustic object information corresponding to each part to a display of the user terminal. The AMOI apparatus may merge the real image showing the parts in the car with acoustic object information associated with the engine shown in the real image. The AMOI apparatus outputs the result of the merging and displays the acoustic object information near the location of the engine image on the display of the user terminal. Furthermore, the AMOI apparatus compares characteristic information about the received sounds of individual parts to characteristic information about sounds of parts stored in a database to determine whether the received sounds of the parts are in a normal state or in an abnormal state. Thus, the AMOI apparatus informs a user of the state of each part based on the result of the determination through a display on the user terminal connected to the AMOI apparatus. If it is determined that an engine sound from among the received sounds of the parts is in an abnormal state, the AMOI apparatus creates acoustic object information including a notice that the engine needs to be repaired. Then, the AMOI apparatus merges the real image with the acoustic object information including the notice such that the acoustic object information appears near the engine image on the real image, and outputs the resultant image onto the display of the user terminal. Accordingly, the user can easily and quickly recognize the fact that there is something wrong with the engine. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     In  FIG. 6 , a user photographs the street along which he or she is walking using a camera in a user terminal connected to an exemplary AMOI apparatus. If a plurality of pieces of music is received from different stores through a microphone array of the AMOI apparatus, the AMOI apparatus classifies the plurality of pieces of music using the beamforming technique to obtain sound peak values for the pieces of music and identifies objects, such as music titles, corresponding to the obtained sound peak values. The AMOI apparatus further acquires details, such as singers, recording labels, etc. about the objects, i.e. the objectized pieces of music, to create acoustic object information. Then, the AMOI apparatus merges the acoustic object information with the real image photographed by the camera and outputs the resultant image onto the display of the user terminal. Thus, the user terminal displays each piece of the acoustic object information near the corresponding store on the image displayed on the display. Accordingly, the user can use the AMOI apparatus to easily determine information about the music played by each store and may furthermore select a piece of music to download onto the user terminal. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a merging of acoustic object information and a real image or sound according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     In  FIG. 7 , a user photographs an orchestra performance through a camera of a user terminal connected to an exemplary AMOI apparatus. When sounds of various musical instruments are received through a microphone array, the AMOI apparatus classifies the sounds of the musical instruments using the beamforming technique to obtain sound peak values for the received sounds of the musical instruments and identifies objects (i.e. musical instruments) corresponding to each sound peak value. Thereafter, the AMOI apparatus further acquires details and additional information about the objects to create acoustic object information. The AMOI apparatus merges the acoustic object information with the real image captured by the camera and outputs the resultant image onto a display of the user terminal. Thus, the user may acquire information about each musical instrument from the image displayed on the display of the user terminal. Furthermore, when the user selects a particular musical instrument (e.g. violins) from the orchestra performance recorded by the camera of the user terminal the AMOI apparatus cancels the sounds of the remaining musical instruments. Accordingly, the user may listen to the reproduced sounds of the particular musical instrument. 
     The apparatus and method for merging acoustic object information disclosed herein provide an AR service in which real images are merged with sounds. Multiple sound tones received through a user terminal may be classified into objects, like images, and the individual objects may be merged with any reality that a user can feel. It is possible to objectize and informationize a plurality of sounds received through a user terminal to classify the sounds into objects, like images, so that the objectized sounds can be merged with any type of real environment that a user can feel. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variation can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.