IP Library › Patent Application 19425493
Patent Application
App. No. 19/425,493

VOICE CONTROL OF A MEDIA PLAYBACK SYSTEM

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
19/425,493
Filed
Dec 18, 2025
Art Unit
OPAP
USPC
704/275
Abstract

An example system is configured to cause a first playback device in a first playback zone to operate in a given playback state including play back of media items identified in a playback queue associated with the first playback zone. The system is also configured to, while the first playback device is operating in the given playback state, (i) receive data corresponding to a detected voice input including an indication of (a) a command word and (b) one or more zone variable instances and (ii) determine, based on the command word and the one or more zone variable instances, an intent to transfer the given playback state to a second playback zone. The system is also configured to transfer the given playback state to the second playback zone, thereby causing a second playback device in the second playback zone to play back the media items identified in the playback queue.

Claims (49)

1 . A system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

cause a first playback device to play back a media item;

while the first playback device is playing back the media item:

capture, via at least one microphone of a computing device separate from the first playback device, a voice input;

determine context information related to the voice input, the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item; and

determine, based on (i) the voice input and (ii) the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item, a command to transfer playback of the media item to a second playback device; and

after determining the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device, cause playback of the media item to be transferred to the second playback device such that the first playback device continues playing back the media item and coordinates with the second playback device to begin playing back the media item in synchrony with the second playback device.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is the second playback device.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a third playback device, and wherein the computing device is the third playback device.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to determine the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

convert the voice input from speech to text; and

parse the text to identify at least one of (i) a command word associated with a media playback system command to transfer playback of the media item or (ii) a zone variable instance.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to determine the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

convert the voice input from speech to text; and

parse the text to identify at least a portion of the context information.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the media item is identified in a playback queue.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein at least a portion of the playback queue is stored on a remote computing device associated with a cloud-based computing system.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprises a command for the second playback device to assume playback responsibility for the playback queue.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprises a command to copy the playback queue to a playback queue of the second playback device.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second playback device is a member of a playback zone that includes at least two playback devices, and wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to cause playback of the media item to be transferred to the second playback device comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to cause playback of the media item to be transferred to the playback zone such that the first playback device coordinates with one or more playback devices in the playback zone to begin playing back the media item in synchrony with each playback device in the playback zone.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprises a command to copy a state variable of the first playback device to a state variable of the second playback device.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first playback device and the second playback are connected to a same local area network (LAN).

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a system to:

cause a first playback device to play back a media item;

while the first playback device is playing back the media item:

capture, via at least one microphone of a computing device separate from the first playback device, a voice input;

determine context information related to the voice input, the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item; and

determine, based on (i) the voice input and (ii) the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item, a command to transfer playback of the media item to a second playback device; and

after determining the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device, cause playback of the media item to be transferred to the second playback device such that the first playback device continues playing back the media item and coordinates with the second playback device to begin playing back the media item in synchrony with the second playback device.

14 . A method implemented by a system, the method comprising:

causing a first playback device to play back a media item;

while the first playback device is playing back the media item:

capturing, via at least one microphone of a computing device separate from the first playback device, a voice input;

determining context information related to the voice input, the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item; and

determining, based on (i) the voice input and (ii) the context information indicating that the first playback device is currently playing back the media item, a command to transfer playback of the media item to a second playback device; and

after determining the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device, causing playback of the media item to be transferred to the second playback device such that the first playback device continues playing back the media item and coordinates with the second playback device to begin playing back the media item in synchrony with the second playback device.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the computing device is the second playback device.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising a third playback device, and wherein the computing device is the third playback device.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprises:

converting the voice input from speech to text; and

parsing the text to identify at least one of (i) a command word associated with a media playback system command to transfer playback of the media item or (ii) a zone variable instance.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the command to transfer playback of the media item to the second playback device comprises:

converting the voice input from speech to text; and

parsing the text to identify at least a portion of the context information.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the media item is identified in a playback queue.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein at least a portion of the playback queue is stored on a remote computing device associated with a cloud-based computing system.