Apple has been granted a patent (number 11582573 B2) for “disabling-enabling head tracking for distracted user of spatial audio application.” It involves the company’s AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.
About the patent
Spatial audio creates a three-dimensional (3D) virtual auditory space that allows a user wearing a headset to pinpoint where a sound source is located in the 3D virtual auditory space, while watching a movie, playing a video game or interacting with augmented reality (AR) content on a source device (e.g., a computer screen).
Existing spatial audio platforms include a head tracker (such as the rumored “RealityPro”) that uses a video camera to track the head of a user and provide the user a visual anchor to the source device. If the source device is a mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer), then the source device and the headset are free to move relative to each other, which may adversely impact the user’s perception of the 3D spatial audio.
In some scenarios, the user may become temporarily distracted and walk away from the source device causing the user to lose their visual anchor to the source device. Apple doesn’t want this to happen with the RealityPro.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Embodiments are disclosed for disabling/re-enabling head tracking for spatial audio applications. In an embodiment, a method comprises: obtaining, using one or more processors of an auxiliary device worn by a user, motion data; tracking, using the one or more processors, the user’s head based at least in part on the motion data; determining, using the one or more processors, whether or not the user is walking based at least in part on the motion data; in accordance with determining that the user is walking, determining if a source device configured to deliver spatial audio to the auxiliary device is static for a specified period of time; and in accordance with determining that the user is walking and the source device is static for the specified period of time, disabling the head tracking.”
