Patents by Inventor Robert D. Silfvast
Robert D. Silfvast has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20240069352Abstract: A system may include an electronic device such as a head-mounted device and a handheld controller for controlling the electronic device. The handheld controller may have a housing with an elongated shaft extending between first and second tip portions. The handheld controller may have power receiving circuitry configured to receive power from a power source. The power source may be incorporated into an electronic device such as a wireless charging dock or stick, a battery case, or a head-mounted device. The power source may supply power through terminals that form ohmic contacts with mating terminals in the finger device or may transmit power wirelessly using capacitive coupling or inductive charging arrangements. Magnets may be used to hold and align the elongated shaft of the handheld controller on the power source.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 20, 2023Publication date: February 29, 2024Inventors: Paul X. Wang, Ian P. Colahan, Christopher T. Eubank, Christopher K. Ewy, Patrick T. Ryan, Emery A. Sanford, Robert D. Silfvast
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Publication number: 20240031716Abstract: A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to a user and provides a visual pass-through of a real environment to the user. The detachable speaker unit is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit for providing aural content to the user. At least one of the visual content or the aural content is changed according to a position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 2, 2023Publication date: January 25, 2024Inventors: Neal D. Evans, James W. VanDyke, Andrew M. Hulva, Robert D. Silfvast, Christopher T. Eubank
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Patent number: 11840177Abstract: A system for securing a user device to a body includes a magnet and an attraction plate. One of the magnet or the attraction plate is mechanically coupled to the body, and the other of the magnet or the attraction plate is mechanically coupled to the user device. The magnet is selectively activated to hold the attraction plate and, thereby, secure the user device to the body.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2020Date of Patent: December 12, 2023Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Sawyer I. Cohen, Jack J. Wanderman, Romain A. Teil, Mikael P. Sedlacek, Jorge C. Fialho, Kirill Kalinichev, Robert D. Silfvast, Justin D. Crosby
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Patent number: 11805347Abstract: A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to a user and provides a visual pass-through of a real environment to the user. The detachable speaker unit is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit for providing aural content to the user. At least one of the visual content or the aural content is changed according to a position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.Type: GrantFiled: November 18, 2020Date of Patent: October 31, 2023Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Neal D. Evans, James W. VanDyke, Andrew M. Hulva, Robert D. Silfvast, Christopher T. Eubank
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Patent number: 11721355Abstract: A first device obtains, from the array, several audio signals and processes the audio signals to produce a speech signal and one or more ambient signals. The first device processes the ambient signals to produce a sound-object sonic descriptor that has metadata describing a sound object within an acoustic environment. The first device transmits, over a communication data link, the speech signal and the descriptor to a second electronic device that is configured to spatially reproduce the sound object using the descriptor mixed with the speech signal, to produce several mixed signals to drive several speakers.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2022Date of Patent: August 8, 2023Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Christopher T. Eubank, Lance Jabr, Matthew S. Connolly, Robert D. Silfvast, Sean A. Ramprashad, Carlos Avendano, Miquel Espi Marques
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Publication number: 20230143588Abstract: A method for routing audio content through an electronic device that is to be worn by a user. The method obtains a communication and determines whether the communication is private. In response to determining that the communication is private, the method drives a bone conduction transducer of the electronic device with an audio signal associated with the communication. In response to determining that the communication is not private, however, the method drives a speaker of the electronic device with the audio signal.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 7, 2022Publication date: May 11, 2023Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Neal D. Evans, Nikolas T. Vitt, Jonathan D. Sheaffer
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Patent number: 11501760Abstract: A method for routing audio content through an electronic device that is to be worn by a user. The method obtains a communication and determines whether the communication is private. In response to determining that the communication is private, the method drives a bone conduction transducer of the electronic device with an audio signal associated with the communication. In response to determining that the communication is not private, however, the method drives a speaker of the electronic device with the audio signal.Type: GrantFiled: November 12, 2021Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Neal D. Evans, Nikolas T. Vitt, Jonathan D. Sheaffer
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Patent number: 11366325Abstract: An audio component for a head-mounted display system includes a first port through which sound is projected to a user during operation in a first audio mode, a second port through which sound is projected to a user during operation in a second audio mode, an insulator positioned along an acoustic path between the first port and the second port, wherein the insulator is configured to inhibit sound projection along the acoustic path by isolating the first port from the second port, and an earpiece configured to engage the audio component to an ear of the a user, to deliver sound from the audio component to the user, and to reduce ambient noise from a surrounding environment during operation of the audio component in the second audio mode.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2020Date of Patent: June 21, 2022Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, James W. VanDyke, Jeremy C. Franklin, Neal D. Evans, Christopher T. Eubank
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Publication number: 20220180889Abstract: A first device obtains, from the array, several audio signals and processes the audio signals to produce a speech signal and one or more ambient signals. The first device processes the ambient signals to produce a sound-object sonic descriptor that has metadata describing a sound object within an acoustic environment. The first device transmits, over a communication data link, the speech signal and the descriptor to a second electronic device that is configured to spatially reproduce the sound object using the descriptor mixed with the speech signal, to produce several mixed signals to drive several speakers.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 22, 2022Publication date: June 9, 2022Inventors: Christopher T. Eubank, Lance Jabr, Matthew S. Connolly, Robert D. Silfvast, Sean A. Ramprashad, Carlos Avendano, Miquel Espi Marques
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Patent number: 11295754Abstract: A first device obtains, from the array, several audio signals and processes the audio signals to produce a speech signal and one or more ambient signals. The first device processes the ambient signals to produce a sound-object sonic descriptor that has metadata describing a sound object within an acoustic environment. The first device transmits, over a communication data link, the speech signal and the descriptor to a second electronic device that is configured to spatially reproduce the sound object using the descriptor mixed with the speech signal, to produce several mixed signals to drive several speakers.Type: GrantFiled: July 28, 2020Date of Patent: April 5, 2022Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Christopher T. Eubank, Lance Jabr, Matthew S. Connolly, Robert D. Silfvast, Sean A. Ramprashad, Carlos Avendano, Miquel Espi Marques
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Publication number: 20220076662Abstract: A method for routing audio content through an electronic device that is to be worn by a user. The method obtains a communication and determines whether the communication is private. In response to determining that the communication is private, the method drives a bone conduction transducer of the electronic device with an audio signal associated with the communication. In response to determining that the communication is not private, however, the method drives a speaker of the electronic device with the audio signal.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 12, 2021Publication date: March 10, 2022Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Neal D. Evans, Nikolas T. Vitt, Jonathan D. Sheaffer
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Patent number: 11259192Abstract: Methods and apparatus for communicating audio packets with ultra-low latency at high data rates from an audio source device to one or more audio output devices over a wireless personal area network (WPAN) connection, such as via a Bluetooth connection. Latency is reduced by using time-efficient audio coding and decoding, limited retransmissions, reduced time and frequency of acknowledgements, and by combining Bluetooth Classic (BTC) packets for downlink audio and downlink control with Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) packets for uplink control, uplink acknowledgements, and inter-device wireless communication. The number of retransmissions and packet concealments per frame cycle can be limited to an upper threshold number to satisfy a low latency requirement.Type: GrantFiled: September 28, 2018Date of Patent: February 22, 2022Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Sriram Hariharan, Alon Paycher, Ran Irony, Sreeraman Anantharaman, Robert D. Silfvast
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Patent number: 11234078Abstract: A system that includes an audio source device configured to obtain audio data of at least one audio channel of a piece of program content. The audio source device has an optical transmitter for transmitting the audio data as an optical signal and a radio frequency (RF) transceiver. The system also includes a wireless earphone that has an optical receiver for receiving the audio data as the optical signal, a RF transceiver for transmitting feedback data indicating a reception quality of the received optical signal at the wireless earphone as a wireless RF signal, and a speaker for outputting the audio data contained within the optical signal and/or the data packets as sound.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 2020Date of Patent: January 25, 2022Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Tushar Gupta, Jahan C. Minoo, Nicholas C. Soldner, Daniel Javaheri-Zadeh
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Patent number: 11176925Abstract: A method for routing audio content through an electronic device that is to be worn by a user. The method obtains a communication and determines whether the communication is private. In response to determining that the communication is private, the method drives a bone conduction transducer of the electronic device with an audio signal associated with the communication. In response to determining that the communication is not private, however, the method drives a speaker of the electronic device with the audio signal.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2020Date of Patent: November 16, 2021Assignee: APPLE INC.Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, Neal D. Evans, Nikolas T. Vitt, Jonathan D. Sheaffer
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Publication number: 20210076120Abstract: A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to a user and provides a visual pass-through of a real environment to the user. The detachable speaker unit is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit for providing aural content to the user. At least one of the visual content or the aural content is changed according to a position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 18, 2020Publication date: March 11, 2021Inventors: Neal D. Evans, James W. VanDyke, Andrew M. Hulva, Robert D. Silfvast, Christopher T. Eubank
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Publication number: 20210035597Abstract: A first device obtains, from the array, several audio signals and processes the audio signals to produce a speech signal and one or more ambient signals. The first device processes the ambient signals to produce a sound-object sonic descriptor that has metadata describing a sound object within an acoustic environment. The first device transmits, over a communication data link, the speech signal and the descriptor to a second electronic device that is configured to spatially reproduce the sound object using the descriptor mixed with the speech signal, to produce several mixed signals to drive several speakers.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 28, 2020Publication date: February 4, 2021Inventors: Christopher T. Eubank, Lance Jabr, Matthew S. Connolly, Robert D. Silfvast, Sean A. Ramprashad, Carlos Avendano, Miquel Espi Marques
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Publication number: 20210018758Abstract: An audio component for a head-mounted display system includes a first port through which sound is projected to a user during operation in a first audio mode, a second port through which sound is projected to a user during operation in a second audio mode, an insulator positioned along an acoustic path between the first port and the second port, wherein the insulator is configured to inhibit sound projection along the acoustic path by isolating the first port from the second port, and an earpiece configured to engage the audio component to an ear of the a user, to deliver sound from the audio component to the user, and to reduce ambient noise from a surrounding environment during operation of the audio component in the second audio mode.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 7, 2020Publication date: January 21, 2021Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, James W. VanDyke, Jeremy C. Franklin, Neal D. Evans, Christopher T. Eubank
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Patent number: 10848846Abstract: A display system includes a head-mounted display unit and a detachable speaker unit. The head-mounted display unit outputs visual content to a user and provides a visual pass-through of a real environment to the user. The detachable speaker unit is detachably coupleable to the head-mounted display unit for providing aural content to the user. At least one of the visual content or the aural content is changed according to a position of the detachable speaker unit relative to the head-mounted display unit.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 2018Date of Patent: November 24, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Neal D. Evans, James W. VanDyke, Andrew M. Hulva, Robert D. Silfvast, Christopher T. Eubank
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Patent number: 10816812Abstract: A head-mounted display system is disclosed that includes a housing; a visual system associated with the housing to facilitate image and/or video display; a wearable support connectable to the housing; and an audio component pivotably connected to the support such that the audio component is movable between a first position in which the audio component is in general alignment with the support, and a second position in which the audio component is out of general alignment with the support. Movement from the first position to the second position transitions the audio component from a first mode (i.e., an extra-aural mode) in which sound is projected through a first port in communication with a driver to a user to a second mode (i.e., an intra-aural mode) in which sound is projected through a second port in communication with the driver to the user.Type: GrantFiled: April 11, 2019Date of Patent: October 27, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Robert D. Silfvast, James W. VanDyke, Jeremy C. Franklin, Neal D. Evans, Christopher T. Eubank
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Patent number: 10703297Abstract: A system for securing a user device in a vehicle includes a magnet and an attraction plate. One of the magnet or the attraction plate is mechanically coupled to the vehicle, and the other of the magnet or the attraction plate is mechanically coupled to the user device. The magnet is selectively activated to hold the attraction plate and, thereby, secure the user device to the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: August 25, 2017Date of Patent: July 7, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Sawyer I. Cohen, Jack J. Wanderman, Romain A. Teil, Mikael P. Sedlacek, Jorge C. Fialho, Kirill Kalinichev, Robert D. Silfvast, Justin D. Crosby