Audio assemblies for electronic devices
Voice-controlled devices that include one or more speakers for outputting audio. In some instances, the device includes at least one speaker within a cylindrical housing, with the speaker aimed or pointed away from a microphone coupled to the housing. For instance, if the microphone resides at or near the top of the cylindrical housing, then the speaker may point downwards along the longitudinal axis of the housing and away from the microphone. By pointing the speaker away from the microphone, the microphone will receive less sound from the speaker than if the speaker were pointed toward the microphone). Because the voice-controlled device may perform speech recognition on audio signals generated by the microphone, less sound from the speaker represented in the audio signal may result in more accurate speech recognition, and/or a lesser need to perform acoustic echo cancelation (AEC) on the generated audio signals.
1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing including a top surface and an opposing bottom surface;
at least one microphone coupled to the housing and disposed a first distance from the bottom surface of the housing, wherein the at least one microphone receives audible input via one or more openings in the top surface of the housing, wherein the audible input is generated external to the electronic device;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing;
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed a second distance from the bottom surface, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance;
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processor to perform operations comprising:
processing the audible input; and
outputting, via the speaker, an audible response based at least in part on the audible input.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise providing a visual feedback via the lighting element.
3. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising a button disposed at the top surface of the housing, and wherein the operations further comprise detecting operation of the button.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein processing the audible input comprises:
sending data corresponding to the audible input to one or more remote computing devices; and
receiving, from the one or more remote computing devices, data representing the audible response.
5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the housing lacks haptic input devices.
6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the audible response is generated at least in part via text-to-speech (TTS).
7. An electronic device comprising:
a housing including a top surface and an opposing bottom surface;
at least one microphone coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing, wherein the at least one microphone receives audible input via one or more openings in the top surface of the housing, wherein the audible input is generated external to the electronic device;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing;
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed closer to the bottom surface than the top surface;
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processor to perform operations comprising:
processing the audible input; and
outputting, via the speaker, an audible response based at least in part on the audible input, wherein the audible response travels at least in part from within the housing to outside of the housing along a plane that is substantially horizontal to the housing.
8. An electronic device comprising:
a network interface;
one or more processors;
one or more computer-readable media;
a housing that includes at least a top surface;
a microphone coupled to the housing and disposed a first distance from the top surface, wherein the microphone receives audible input via one or more openings in the top surface, and wherein at least a portion of the audible input is generated external to the electronic device;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing; and
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed a second distance from the top surface, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.
9. The electronic device of claim 8 , further comprising an audio input device disposed at the top surface of the housing.
10. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more computer-readable media store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving audible input using the microphone; and
based at least in part on receiving the audible input, providing a visual feedback using the lighting element.
11. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the housing includes a cylindrical shape.
12. An electronic device comprising:
a network interface;
one or more processors;
a housing that includes at least a top surface;
a microphone coupled to the housing and disposed a first distance from the top surface;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing;
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed a second distance from the top surface, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance; and
one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving audible input using the microphone;
sending, using the network interface, the audible input to one or more computing devices;
receiving, using the network interface, data representing an audible response from the one or more computing devices; and
outputting the audible response using the speaker.
13. An electronic device comprising:
a network interface;
one or more processors;
a housing that includes at least a top surface;
a microphone coupled to the housing and disposed a first distance from the top surface;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed near the top surface of the housing;
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed a second distance from the top surface, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance; and
one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving audible input using the microphone;
analyzing the audible input using one or more speech recognition techniques; and
outputting, based at least in part on analyzing the audible input, an audible response using the speaker.
14. An electronic device comprising:
a housing that includes at least a surface;
at least one microphone coupled to the housing and disposed near the surface of the housing, wherein the at least one microphone receives audible input via one or more openings in the surface of the housing and wherein at least a portion of the audible input is generated external to the electronic device;
a speaker coupled to the housing and disposed a greater distance from the surface than the at least one microphone;
a lighting element coupled to the housing and disposed at the surface of the housing;
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processor to perform operations comprising:
processing the audible input; and
outputting, using the speaker, an audible response that is based at least in part on the audible input.
15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise providing, based at least in part on the at least one microphone receiving the audible input, a visual feedback using the lighting element.
16. The electronic device of claim 14 , further comprising an input device disposed at the surface of the housing.
17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise detecting operation of the input device.
18. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the speaker is disposed within the housing such that the speaker is pointed substantially away from the at least one microphone.
19. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein processing the audible input comprises:
sending data corresponding to the audible input to one or more remote computing devices; and
receiving, from the one or more remote computing devices, data representing the audible response.