Acoustic locationing for smart environments

1. A device, comprising:

one or more loudspeakers configured to emit sound waves to propagate in an environment, wherein the sound waves include ultrasonic sound waves for acoustic locationing;

a plurality of microphones configured to sense one or more reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves propagating in the environment;

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:

recover sound wave information from the one or more sensed reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves;

determine a location of one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information;

determine an operation to be performed by one or more smart devices based on the determined location of one or more people; and

instruct the one or more smart devices to perform the operation.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of microphones are configured to sense sonic sound waves concurrently with sensing reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves emitted by the one or more loudspeakers, wherein the sensed sonic sound waves are for interaction by the one or more people with the device.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

compare the sound wave information to a baseline of the environment; and

determine a difference between the sound wave information and the baseline, wherein determining the location of one or more people in the environment is based on the determined difference.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

determine the sound wave information for a number of instances to be different than the baseline; and

compare the sound wave information between the number of instances, wherein determining the location of one or more people in the environment is based on determining the sound wave information differs between the number of instances.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

determine that the sound wave information between the number of instances is within a threshold difference from one another; and

update the baseline based on the compared sound wave information.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein each instance of sound wave information and the baseline include a depth map indicating spatial coordinates around the device.

7. The device of claim 4 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to determine a movement of the one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information, wherein determining the operation to be performed by the one or more smart devices is further based on the determined movement of the one or more people.

8. A non-transitory, computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to:

emit, by one or more loudspeakers, sound waves to propagate in an environment, wherein the sound waves include ultrasonic sound waves for acoustic locationing;

sense, by a plurality of microphones, one or more reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves propagating in the environment;

recover sound wave information from the one or more sensed reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves;

determine a location of one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information;

determine an operation to be performed by one or more smart devices based on the determined location of one or more people; and

instruct the one or more smart devices to perform the operation.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

sense, by the plurality of microphones, sonic sound waves concurrently with sensing reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves emitted by the one or more loudspeakers, wherein the sensed sonic sound waves are for interaction by the one or more people with the device.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

compare the sound wave information to a baseline of the environment; and

determine a difference between the sound wave information and the baseline, wherein determining the location of one or more people in the environment is based on the determined difference.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

determine the sound wave information for a number of instances to be different than the baseline; and

compare the sound wave information between the number of instances, wherein determining the location of one or more people in the environment is based on determining the sound wave information differs between the number of instances.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to:

determine that the sound wave information between the number of instances is within a threshold difference from one another; and

update the baseline based on the compared sound wave information.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein each instance of sound wave information and the baseline include a depth map indicating spatial coordinates around the device.

14. A method, comprising:

emitting, by one or more loudspeakers of a device, sound waves to propagate in an environment, wherein the sound waves include ultrasonic sound waves for acoustic locationing;

sensing, by a plurality of microphones of the device, one or more reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves propagating in the environment;

recovering sound wave information from the one or more sensed reflections of the ultrasonic sound waves;

determining a location of one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information;

determining an operation to be performed by one or more smart devices based on the determined location of one or more people; and

instructing the one or more smart devices to perform the operation.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

comparing the sound wave information to a baseline of the environment; and

determining a difference between the sound wave information and the baseline, wherein determining the location of one or more people in the environment is based on the determined difference.

16. The device of claim 7 , wherein determining the movement of the one or more people in the environment includes determining at least one from the group consisting of:

whether a person is about to leave the environment; and

whether the person is approaching a specific object in the environment other than the device.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the device to determine a movement of the one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information, wherein determining the operation to be performed by the one or more smart devices is further based on the determined movement of the one or more people.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein determining the movement of the one or more people in the environment includes determining at least one from the group consisting of:

whether a person is about to leave the environment; and

whether the person is approaching a specific object in the environment other than the device.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining a movement of the one or more people in the environment based on the sound wave information, wherein determining the operation to be performed by the one or more smart devices is further based on the determined movement of the one or more people.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein determining the movement of the one or more people in the environment includes determining at least one from the group consisting of:

whether a person is about to leave the environment; and

whether the person is approaching a specific object in the environment other than the device.