Abstract: A voice controlled assistant has a housing to hold one or more microphones, one or more speakers, and various computing components. The housing has an elongated cylindrical body extending along a center axis between a base end and a top end. The microphone(s) are mounted in the top end and the speaker(s) are mounted proximal to the base end. A control knob is rotatably mounted to the top end of the housing to rotate about the center axis. A light indicator is arranged on the control knob to exhibit various appearance states to provide visual feedback with respect to the one or more functions being performed by the assistant. In one case, the light indicator is used to uniquely identify participants involved in a call.

Abstract: An audio device may be configured to detect proximity of a user hand based on analysis of audio signals captured by the audio device. For example, the audio device may be configured to perform acoustic echo cancellation based on dynamically calculated filter coefficients. The coefficients may be analyzed to determine proximity of the user hand. The proximity of the hand may be evaluated over time to detect user hand gestures.

Abstract: An audio device may be configured to work in conjunction with a handheld remote controller to receive voice commands from a user. The audio device may have multiple local microphones that are used for sound source localization, to determine the position of the user. A remote audio signal may be received from the remote controller and used in conjunction with local microphone signals generated by the local microphones to aid in determining the position of the user. The last known position of the user may be recorded whenever the user speaks into the remote controller. When the user is unable to find the remote controller, the audio device may direct the user toward the last known position of the user.