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US-20260126949-A1 - SPEAKER CONTROL BASED ON PROXIMITY

US20260126949A1US 20260126949 A1US20260126949 A1US 20260126949A1US-20260126949-A1

Abstract

Security systems and methods. In one example, a method includes processing, by a device that includes a camera, an image to generate a bounding box that surrounds a portion of content of the image, the portion of content of the image including at least a portion of a person shown in the image, determining a proximity of the person to the device based on a size of the bounding box, and adjusting a speaker of the device based on the proximity of the person to modify one or more audio characteristics of sound output by the speaker based on the proximity of the person to the device.

Inventors

  • Devin Walker
  • Rodrigo Alexei Vasquez

Assignees

  • SimpliSafe, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20250930

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . (canceled)
  2. 2 . A method comprising: processing, by a device that includes a speaker, input from a sensor to determine a proximity of a person to the device; and adjusting, by the device and based on the proximity, operation of the speaker to increase or decrease volume and frequency response of sound produced by the speaker.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein: the sensor is a camera of the device; processing the input from the sensor includes processing an image acquired by the camera to generate a bounding box that surrounds a portion of content of the image, the portion of content of the image including a depiction of at least a portion of the person; and determining the proximity of the person to the device includes determining a size of the bounding box.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a microphone of the device; and wherein processing the input includes processing audio input from the microphone to determine the proximity of the person to the device.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the audio input includes speech produced by the person; and wherein processing the audio input includes determining the proximity of the person to the device based on a volume of the speech.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: acquiring, with the device, a signal from a motion detector, the motion detector being separate from the device and the signal indicating detection of the person by the motion detector; and confirming, with the device, the proximity of the person to the device based on a recorded location of the motion detector relative to the device.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein adjusting the operation of the speaker includes decreasing the volume of the sound based on the proximity of the person being within a threshold distance from the device.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein adjusting the operation of the speaker includes selecting between a first profile for the speaker and a second profile for the speaker, the first profile having first settings for processing audio and the second profile having second settings for processing audio different from the first settings; and wherein the first and second settings include settings for equalization, filtering, and gain that is dependent on frequencies of the sound.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: initiating a communication session using the device; and adjusting the first or second settings to optimize a quality of speech output by the speaker during the communication session.
  10. 10 . A method comprising: processing an image, by a device with a camera installed at a fixed location, to generate a bounding box that to include at least a portion of a person depicted in the image; determining, with the device, a size of the bounding box, the size being indicative of a proximity of the person to the device; and configuring, with the device, a profile of a speaker of the device based on the size of the bounding box, the profile describing an output volume of the speaker and one or more settings of the speaker for processing audio, the settings including gain, compression, filtering, and/or equalization.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein processing the image includes applying an object detection process to the image to detect the person depicted in the image.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein configuring the profile of the speaker includes lowering the output volume based on the proximity of the person being within a threshold distance from the device.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein configuring the profile of the speaker includes flattening a frequency response of sound output by the speaker based on the proximity of the person being within the threshold distance from the device.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein configuring the profile of the speaker comprises: applying a first profile based on the proximity of the person being within a threshold distance from the device, the first profile describing a first output volume and a first frequency response of sound output by the speaker; or applying a second profile based on the proximity of the person being beyond the threshold distance from the device, the second profile describing a second output volume louder that the first output volume and a second frequency response wider than the first frequency response.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the device includes a microphone, the method further comprising: processing audio input from the microphone to confirm the proximity of the person to the device.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: acquiring, with the device, a signal from a motion detector, the motion detector being separate from the device and the signal indicating detection of the person by the motion detector; and confirming, with the device, the proximity of the person to the device based on a recorded location of the motion detector relative to the device.
  17. 17 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing sequences of instructions executable to control a security camera installed at a fixed location, the sequences of instructions comprising instructions to cause the security camera to: acquire an image of a scene proximate to the fixed location; process the image to generate a bounding box that surrounds a portion of content of the image, the portion of content of the image depicting at least a portion of a person; determine a proximity of the person to the fixed location of the security camera based on a size of the bounding box; and adjust a profile for a speaker of the security camera, based on the proximity of the person to the fixed location of the security camera, to modify one or more characteristics of sound output by the speaker, the one or more characteristics including a volume of the sound and a frequency response of the sound.
  18. 18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the sequences of instructions comprise instructions to cause the security camera to: initiate a communication session with a remote device; and adjust the profile for the speaker to optimize a quality of speech output by the speaker during the communication session.
  19. 19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the sequences of instructions comprise instructions to cause the security camera to: process audio input from a microphone of the security camera to confirm the proximity of the person to the fixed location of the security camera.
  20. 20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the sequences of instructions comprise instructions to cause the security camera to: acquire a signal from a motion detector, the motion detector being separate from the security camera and the signal indicating detection of the person by the motion detector; and confirm the proximity of the person to the fixed location of the security camera based on a recorded location of the motion detector relative to the security camera.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/638,882 filed on Apr. 18, 2024, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD Aspects of the technologies described herein relate to security systems and methods. BACKGROUND Some monitoring systems use one or more cameras to capture images of areas around or within a residence or business location. Such monitoring systems can process images locally and transmit the captured images to a remote service. If motion is detected, the monitoring systems can send an alert to one or more user devices. SUMMARY This disclosure is directed to techniques for adjusting (e.g., automatically adjusting) the volume of a speaker based on the proximity of a person to the speaker. At least one example is directed to a method. The method includes initiating a communication session using a device having a speaker, processing input from at least one sensor to determine an indication of proximity of a person to the device, based on the indication of proximity, automatically selecting a speaker profile for the speaker, and applying the speaker profile to automatically control one or more audio characteristics of the speaker. Another example is directed to a device comprising a camera, a speaker, and a controller configured to process an image acquired by the camera to determine an indication of proximity of a person to the device, and to automatically control a volume of the speaker based on the indication of proximity. Another example is directed to one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing sequences of instructions executable to control a security camera disposed at a location, the sequences of instructions comprising instructions to acquire an image, apply an object detection process to the image to detect a person in the image, determine an indication of proximity of the person to the security camera, and control a volume of a speaker of the security camera based on the indication of proximity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional examples of the disclosure, as well as features and advantages thereof, will become more apparent by reference to the description herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a security system, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a base station, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a keypad, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a security sensor, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of an image capture device, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of another image capture device, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data center environment, a monitoring center environment, and a customer device, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of a monitoring process, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of certain components of a device, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a person at a first location in a monitored environment, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating a person at a second location in the monitored environment, according to some examples described herein. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating bounding boxes produced during an object detection process according to some examples described herein. FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method of adjusting an output of a speaker using a speaker profile according to some examples described herein. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method of adjusting a speaker profile according to some examples described herein. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a computing device, according to some examples described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As summarized above, at least some examples disclosed herein relate to home security systems in which the output of a speaker can be adjusted based on a person's proximity to the speaker, so as to provide an improved communication experience for the person. For instance, in some examples, speaker volume is adjusted automatically. In handling of alarms, various devices of a security system can be configured to allow communication sessions between one or more security devices located at a monitored location and a computing device located remote from the monitored location. According to certain examples, a home security system can be configured to provide two-way communication between a local device and a remotely-located device via a network connection. This capability allows a person