Patent ID: 7492913

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a directed audio system having an array of speakers within a ceiling of a physical region; a network interface communicatively coupled with a network; and a controller to receive, via the network interface, an estimate for a location corresponding to a user from a locating device communicatively associated with the user that is coupled with the network; and the controller coupled with the array of speakers to cause the directed audio system to direct an audio signal by selectively enabling and disabling selected speakers to transmit ultrasonic beams carrying audible content from the array of speakers to provide the audio content to a vertical proximity corresponding to the user and not to other locations within the physical region based on an estimate for the location received from the locating device, wherein one or more of the speakers changes an angle of an ultrasonic beam based on the location of the user, and further wherein the controller manages multiple users by muting or lowering an audio level when two or more users approach each other within a conversational distance.