Abstract:
A method for providing a user interface modified in accordance to audio data, a module including an audio feature extractor and a UI modifier, an apparatus and a computer readable medium. First, audio data is received. Thereafter, an audio feature is extracted from the received audio data. In accordance to the extracted audio feature, the appearance of one of a number of user interface components is modified, e.g. by superposing music visualization effects.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The disclosed embodiments generally relate to a method for providing a user interface modified in accordance to audio data, as well as a module and an apparatus thereof. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Many mobile communication terminals of today includes a music player, most often a so-called MP3 player and/or radio receiver. A great advantage of having a music player included is that, instead of two separate units, only one single unit is needed for users asking for a mobile communication terminal as well as a music player. 
         [0003]    By including a music player in a mobile communication terminal, some of the hardware of the mobile communication terminal may be used by the music player as well. For instance, the display may be used by the music player in order to show the title of the song being played, the key board may be used in order to control the music player, etc. 
         [0004]    Although a number of hardware synergies may be achieved by running a music player on the same platform as a mobile communication terminal, there is a need to more closely connect the music player to the mobile communication terminal in order to increase the customer satisfaction. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    In view of the above, the disclosed embodiments aim to solve or at least reduce the problems discussed above. In more particular, an advantage of the disclosed embodiments is to provide a user interface which is modified in accordance to audio data. 
         [0006]    Generally, the a method for providing a user interface modified in accordance to extracted audio features, and an associated module and apparatus according to the attached independent claims is provided. 
         [0007]    In a first aspect, the disclosed embodiments are directed to a method for providing a user interface of an apparatus, said user interface comprising a number of user interface components, said method comprising 
         [0008]    receiving audio data, extracting at least one audio feature from said audio data, and modifying the appearance of at least one of said number of user interface components in accordance to said extracted audio feature. 
         [0009]    An advantage of this is that the user interface of the apparatus is made more alive, which will increase the user satisfaction. 
         [0010]    Another advantage is that the user interface may be used at the same time as music visualization effects are shown. This implies that the apparatus may be utilised as usually, although music visualization effects is being shown on the display. 
         [0011]    Still another advantage is that the user interface of the apparatus will vary in accordance to the audio data generated by the music player. This implies that the music player and the other functions of the apparatus are perceived by the user as one apparatus, not as an apparatus which can, for instance, be transformed from a communication apparatus into a music player apparatus. 
         [0012]    In the method according to the first aspect, the reception, the extraction and the modification may be repeated. 
         [0013]    Further, in the method according to the first aspect, the user interface components may be 3-D rendered graphical objects. 
         [0014]    An advantage of having 3-D rendered graphical objects is that a more sophisticated user interface may be utilised. 
         [0015]    In the method according to the first aspect, the 3-D rendered graphical objects may be hardware accelerated. 
         [0016]    An advantage of this is that the responsitivity of the 3-D graphical objects of the user interface may be increased, which means that the user interface is quicker. 
         [0017]    In the method according to the first aspect, the audio visualization effects may be superposed upon the 3-D rendered graphical objects. 
         [0018]    In the method according to the first aspect, the modification may comprise classifying said extracted audio feature into one of a plurality of predetermined feature representations, and modifying the appearance of at least one of said number of user interface components in accordance to said one predetermined feature representation. 
         [0019]    By having a number of predetermined feature representations determined in advance, the extracted audio feature may be classified into one of these predetermined representations. This implies that the classification may be made quicker and less computational power is needed. This is an advantage. 
         [0020]    In the method according to the first aspect, the modification of said user interface components may be made in accordance to one of a set of user interface (UI) modification themes. 
         [0021]    A UI modification theme may comprise information of how the extracted audio feature(s) is to be presented in the UI. For instance, the extracted audio feature(s) may be presented as a histogram superposed on a 3-D rendered UI component, or the extracted audio feature(s) may be presented as a number of circles superposed on a 3-D rendered UI component. 
         [0022]    An advantage of this is that the way in which the modification of the user interface components is made may easily be chosen by the user of the apparatus. 
         [0023]    In the method according to the first aspect, the set of UI modification themes may be user configurable. 
         [0024]    In the method according to the first aspect, at least a number of said UI components may be modified, wherein each of said number of UI components may be modified in accordance to each respectively assigned audio feature. 
         [0025]    An advantage of this is that different user interface components may be modified differently. For example, a first user interface component may be modified according to base frequencies, and a second user interface component may be modified in accordance to treble frequencies. 
         [0026]    In a second aspect, the disclosed embodiments are directed to a module comprising an audio feature extractor configured to receive a stream of audio data and to extract at least one feature of said stream of audio data, and a user interface modifier configured to determine user interface modification data based upon said extracted feature. 
         [0027]    An advantage of this second aspect is that one or several of the user interface components may be modified in accordance to the audio data. 
         [0028]    The module according to the second aspect may further comprise an audio detector configured to detect an audio activation signal and to activate said audio feature extractor or said user interface modifier upon detection. 
         [0029]    An advantage of this is that the audio feature extractor and the user interface modifier may be in a low power mode until audio data is being generated. When, for example, audio data is being generated, an audio activation signal may be transmitted to the audio feature extractor or the UI modifier, and the power mode of the module may then be switched to a high power mode, or, in other words, working mode. Hence, the power efficiency of the module may be increased by having an audio detector present. 
         [0030]    The module according to the second aspect may further comprise a memory arranged to hold user interface modification settings. 
         [0031]    An advantage of having a memory arranged to hold user interface settings is that no memory capacity of the apparatus is used for holding the user interface settings. This implies that less changes of the apparatus, in which the module is comprised, are needed. 
         [0032]    The module according to the second aspect may further comprise an audio feature classifier configured to classify said at least one feature into one of a set of predetermined feature representations. 
         [0033]    An advantage of this is that the audio feature classifier can be a hardware module or a software module specialized in this kind of classification, which implies that less time and computational power are needed. 
         [0034]    The module according to the second aspect may further comprise a memory arranged to hold predetermined feature representations. 
         [0035]    In a third aspect, the disclosed embodiments are directed to an apparatus comprising a display configured to visualize a user interface comprising a number of user interface components, a music player configured to generate audio data, a module configured to determine user interface modification data, and a graphics engine configured to modify said user interface component in accordance to said determined user interface modification data. 
         [0036]    An advantage of this third aspect is that one or several of the user interface components may be modified in accordance to the audio data. 
         [0037]    In the apparatus according to the third aspect, an audio activation signal may be transmitted from said music player to said module. 
         [0038]    An advantage of this is that the module may be in a low power mode until audio data is being generated. When audio data is being generated and the audio activation signal is transmitted to the module, the power mode of the module may then be switched to a high power mode, or, in other words, working mode. Hence, the power efficiency of the apparatus may be increased by sending an audio signal to the module. 
         [0039]    In the apparatus according to the third aspect, the apparatus may be a mobile communication terminal. 
         [0040]    In the apparatus according to the third aspect, the user interface components may be 3-D rendered objects. 
         [0041]    An advantage of having 3-D rendered graphical objects is that a more sophisticated user interface may be utilised. 
         [0042]    In the apparatus according to the third aspect, the audio visualization effects may be superposed onto said user interface components. 
         [0043]    In a fourth aspect, the disclosed embodiments are directed to a computer-readable medium having computer-executable components comprising instructions for receiving audio data, extracting at least one audio feature from said audio data, and modifying the appearance of at least one of said number of user interface components in accordance to said extracted audio feature. 
         [0044]    In the computer-readable medium according to the fourth aspect, the reception, the extraction and the modification may be repeated. 
         [0045]    In the computer-readable medium according to the fourth aspect, the user interface components may be 3-D rendered graphical objects. 
         [0046]    In the computer-readable medium according to the fourth aspect, the modification may comprise classifying said found audio feature into a predetermined feature representation, and modifying the appearance of at least one of said number of user interface components in accordance to said predetermined feature representation. 
         [0047]    Other features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings. 
         [0048]    Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0049]    The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments, will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferred embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements, wherein: 
           [0050]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for modifying a user interface component in accordance to audio data. 
           [0051]      FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a module according to the disclosed embodiments. 
           [0052]      FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an apparatus according to the disclosed embodiments. 
           [0053]      FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a user interface with user interface components being modified in accordance to audio data. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0054]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart illustrating a method according to the disclosed embodiments describing the general steps of modifying a user interface component in accordance to audio data. 
         [0055]    In a first step,  100 , audio data is received. The audio data may be a current part of a stored audio file being played by a music player, or, alternatively, a current part of an audio stream received by an audio data receiver. 
         [0056]    Next, in a second step,  102 , an audio feature is extracted from the received audio data. Such an audio feature may be a frequency spectrum of the audio data. 
         [0057]    Finally, in a third step,  104 , one or several user interface components are modified in accordance to the extracted audio feature. 
         [0058]    The third step,  104 , may be subdivided into a first substep,  106 , in which the extracted audio feature is classified into a predetermined feature representation. Thereafter, in a second substep,  108 , the user interface component is modified in accordance to the predetermined feature representation. 
         [0059]    By using predetermined feature representations, a number of user interface component appearance state images may be used. This implies that less computational power is needed in order to modify the user interface components in accordance to the audio data. 
         [0060]    The user interface components can be 3-D rendered objects. Additionally, audio visualization effects can be superposed upon the 3-D rendered objects. Then, when receiving audio data and extracting an audio feature, the audio visualization effects are changed, which means that the appearance of the user interface components vary in accordance to the audio data. 
         [0061]    Alternatively, 2-D objects may be used as user interface components. As in the case of 3-D rendered objects, audio visualization effects, which varies in accordance to the audio data, may be superposed upon the 2-D objects. 
         [0062]    Alternatively, instead of having superposed audio visualization effects, the size of one or several user interface components may be modified in accordance to the extracted audio features. For instance, the user interface components may be configured to change size in accordance to the amount of base frequencies in the audio data. In this way, during a drum solo the size of the user interface component will be large, and during a guitar solo the size will be small. Other options are that the colour, the orientation, the shape, the animation speed or other animation-specific attributes, such as zooming level in fractal animation, of the user interface components change in accordance to the audio data. 
         [0063]    If so-called environment mapping is utilised, existing solutions for music visualization may be used. This is an advantage since no new algorithms must be developed. Another advantage of using so-called environment mapping is that a dynamically changing environment map emphasizes the shape of a 3-D object, making UI components easier to recognize. 
         [0064]    Optionally, different user interface components may be associated to different frequencies. For instance, when playing a rock song comprising several different frequencies, a first user interface component, such as a “messages” icon, may change in accordance to high frequencies, i.e. treble frequencies, and a second user interface component, such as “contacts” icon, may change in accordance to low frequencies, i.e. base frequencies. 
         [0065]    The procedure of receiving audio data,  100 , extracting audio feature,  102 , and modifying a UI component in accordance to the extracted audio feature,  104 , may be repeated continuously as long as audio data is received. The procedure may, for instance, be repeated once every time the display is updated. 
         [0066]      FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a module  200 . The module  200  may be a software implemented module or a hardware implemented module, such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof, such as an FPGA circuit. 
         [0067]    Audio data can be input to an audio feature extractor  202 . Thereafter, one or several audio features can be extracted from the audio data, and then the extracted features can be transmitted to a user interface (UI) modifier  204 . UI modification data can be generated in the UI modifier  204  based upon the extracted audio feature(s). After having generated UI modification data, this data can be output from the module  200 . 
         [0068]    The UI modification data may be data representing the extracted audio feature(s). Then, a graphics engine (not shown) is configured to receive the UI modification data, and based upon this UI modification data and original graphics data, the graphic engine is configured to determine graphics data comprising audio visualization effects. 
         [0069]    Alternatively, the UI modification data may be complete graphics data containing audio visualization effects. In other words, the graphics engine may be contained within said module  200 . 
         [0070]    Optionally, the module may further comprise an audio feature classifier  206 . The function of the audio feature classifier  206  can be to find characteristic features of the audio signal. Such a characteristic feature may be the amount of audio data corresponding to a certain frequency, such as a base frequency or a treble frequency. Alternatively, if different UI components are corresponding to different characteristic features, a number of characteristic features may be determined in the audio feature classifier  206 . 
         [0071]    If an audio feature classifier  206  is present, a memory  208  comprising a number of predetermined feature representations may be present as well. A predetermined feature representation may, for instance, be the amount of audio data corresponding to a sound between 20 Hz and 100 Hz. The number of predetermined feature representations, i.e. the resolution of the classification, may be user configurable, as well as the limits of each of the predetermined feature representations. 
         [0072]    Optionally, the module  200  may comprise an audio detector  209  configured to receive an audio activation signal. The audio activation signal may be transmitted from the music player when the playing of a song is started, or, alternatively, when the radio is switched on. When the audio detection signal is received, an audio activation signal is transmitted to the audio feature extractor  202 , the UI modifier  204  or the audio feature classifier  206 . 
         [0073]    Optionally, the module  200  may further comprise a memory  210  containing UI modification themes. A UI modification theme may comprise information of how the extracted audio feature(s) is to be presented in the UI. For instance, the extracted audio feature(s) may be presented as a histogram superposed on a 3-D rendered UI component, or the extracted audio feature(s) may be presented as a number of circles superposed on a 3-D rendered UI component. 
         [0074]      FIG. 3  schematically illustrates an apparatus  300 , such as a mobile communication terminal, comprising the module  200 , a music player  302 , a graphics engine  304 , a display  306 , optionally a keypad  308  and optionally an audio output  310 , such as a loudspeaker or a head phone output. 
         [0075]    When a song is started in the music player  302 , which start may be made after having received key input actuation data from the keypad  308 , audio data and, optionally, an audio activation signal, are transmitted from the music player  302  to the module  200 . Optionally, audio data may also be transmitted to the audio output  310 . 
         [0076]    The module  200  is configured to generate UI modification data from extracted audio features of the audio data as is described above. The UI modification data generated by the module  200  can be transmitted to the graphics engine  304 . The graphics engine  304  can, in turn, be configured to generate graphics data presenting the extracted features of the audio data by using the UI modification data. 
         [0077]    After having determined the graphics data, this data may be transmitted to the display  306 , where it is shown to the user of the apparatus  300 . Alternatively, if the graphics engine  304  is comprised within the module  200 , graphics data is transmitted directly from the module  200  to the display  306 . 
         [0078]      FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a user interface  400  with user interface components being modified in accordance to audio data. 
         [0079]    A first user interface component may be illustrated as a “music” icon comprising a 3-D cuboid  402 . Audio visualization effects in the form of a frequency diagram  404  can be superposed on the sides of the 3-D cuboid  402 . Moreover, an identifying text “MUSIC”  406  may be available in connection to the 3-D cuboid  402 . 
         [0080]    A second user interface component illustrates a “messages” icon comprising a 3-D cylinder  408 . Audio visualization effects in the form of a number of rings  410   a ,  410   b ,  410   c  may be superposed on the top of the 3-D cylinder  408 . Moreover, an identifying text “MESSAGES”  412  may be available in connection to the 3-D cylinder  408 . 
         [0081]    A third user interface component illustrates a “contacts” icon comprising a 3-D cylinder  414 . Audio visualization effects in the form of a 2-D frequency representation  416  may be superposed on the top of the 3-D cylinder  414 . Moreover, an identifying text “CONTACTS”  418  may be available in connection to the 3-D cylinder  414 . 
         [0082]    A fourth user interface component illustrates an “Internet” icon comprising a 3-D cuboid  420 . Audio visualization effects in the form of a number of stripes  422   a ,  422   b ,  422   c  may be superposed on the sides of the 3-D cuboid  420 . Moreover, an identifying text “Internet”  424  may be available in connection to the 3-D cuboid  420 . 
         [0083]    The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.