IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,530,946
Granted Patent B2
US 12,530,946 · App. 18/263,353 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Control device that provides tactile stimulus

Inventors: Osamu Ito (Tokyo, JP); Ikuo Yamano (Tokyo, JP); Takuro Noda (Tokyo, JP); Ryo Yokoyama (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
G08B7/00G06F3/016H04R3/12A63F13/285H04R2420/07
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,530,946
App. No.
18/263,353
Granted
Jan 20, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A control device includes a reproduction unit that causes stereo speakers of an aural-tactile presentation device to output sound on the basis of sound data and causes tactile presentation units provided corresponding to the respective stereo speakers in the aural-tactile presentation device to provide a tactile stimulus on the basis of tactile data, and a switching control unit that switches, on the basis of content information of content data including at least the sound data, the tactile data to be input to the tactile presentation units to either the tactile data generated by a tactile data generation unit on the basis of the sound data or the tactile data included in the content data.

Claims (34)

1 . A control device, comprising:

a reproduction unit configured to control:

a plurality of speakers of an aural-tactile presentation device to output sound based on sound data; and

a plurality of tactile presentation units of the aural-tactile presentation device to provide a tactile stimulus based on a tactile data, wherein

a tactile presentation unit of the plurality of tactile presentation units corresponds to a speaker of the plurality of speakers in the aural-tactile presentation device, and

a plurality of first regions where the tactile stimulus is provided is associated with the tactile data; and

a switching control unit configured to:

control a tactile data generation unit to generate the tactile data, wherein the generation of the tactile data is based on the sound data; and

switch, based on content information of content data including at least the sound data, the tactile data input to the plurality of tactile presentation units to one of

the tactile data generated by the tactile data generation unit, or the tactile data included in the content data,

wherein in a case where the content data includes the tactile data of the plurality of first regions corresponding to the plurality of tactile presentation units, the switching control unit is further configured to control the plurality of tactile presentation units to provide the tactile stimulus based on the tactile data included in the content data.

2 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the switching control unit is further configured to perform the switch based on each of the content information and system configuration information of the aural-tactile presentation device.

3 . The control device according to claim 2 , wherein

the aural-tactile presentation device receives, by wireless communication, the sound data and the tactile data, and

the system configuration information includes information related to a communication method used by for the wireless communication.

4 . The control device according to claim 3 , wherein the system configuration information further includes information related to a number of pieces of the sound data transmitted by the wireless communication and a number of pieces of the tactile data transmitted by the wireless communication.

5 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the content information further includes information related to data configurations of the sound data and the tactile data.

6 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein,

in a case where the content data does not include the tactile data, the switching control unit is further configured to control the plurality of tactile presentation units to provide the tactile stimulus based on the tactile data generated by the tactile data generation unit.

7 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein, in the case where the content data includes the tactile data, the switching control unit does not control the tactile data generation unit to generate the tactile data.

8 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

in a case where the tactile data of the plurality of first regions corresponding to the plurality of tactile presentation units is not included in the content data, the switching control unit is further configured to control causes the plurality of tactile presentation units to provide the tactile stimulus based on the tactile data generated by the tactile data generation unit.

9 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein

in a case where the tactile data of a second region different from the plurality of first regions corresponding to the plurality of tactile presentation units is included in the content data, the switching control unit is further configured to control the plurality of tactile presentation units to provide the tactile stimulus based on the tactile data generated by the tactile data generation unit.

10 . A control method, comprising:

outputting, by a plurality of speakers of an aural-tactile presentation device, te output sound based on sound data;

outputting, by a plurality of tactile presentation units of the aural-tactile presentation device, a tactile stimulus based on tactile data, wherein

a tactile presentation unit of the plurality of tactile presentation units corresponds to a speaker of the plurality of speakers in the aural-tactile presentation device, and

a plurality of regions where the tactile stimulus is provided is associated with the tactile data;

generating, by a tactile data generation unit, tactile data based on the sound data;

switching, by a switching control unit, based on content information of content data including at least the sound data, the tactile data input to the plurality of tactile presentation units to one of

the tactile data generated by the tactile data generation unit, or

the tactile data included in the content data; and

in a case where the content data includes the tactile data of the plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of tactile presentation units, controlling, by the switching control unit, the plurality of tactile presentation units to provide the tactile stimulus based on the tactile data included in the content data.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 28, 2023
From: ITO, OSAMU; YAMANO, IKUO; NODA, TAKURO; YOKOYAMA, RYO
To: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 064415/0009 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2021-018531 · Feb 8, 2021 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240304068A1 · Sep 12, 2024
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