A rendering mode may be determined for received audio data, including audio signals and associated spatial data. The audio data may be rendered for reproduction via a set of loudspeakers of an environment according to the rendering mode, to produce rendered audio signals. Rendering the audio data may involve determining relative activation of a set of loudspeakers in an environment. The rendering mode may be variable between a reference spatial mode and one or more distributed spatial modes. The reference spatial mode may have an assumed listening position and orientation. In the distributed spatial mode(s), one or more elements of the audio data may each be rendered in a more spatially distributed manner than in the reference spatial mode and spatial locations of remaining elements of the audio data may be warped such that they span a rendering space of the environment more completely than in the reference spatial mode.

A first playback device is configured to (i) receive an instruction to share a playback device between a first group of playback devices including the first playback device and a second group of playback devices including a second playback device, (ii) receive a command to play back media content, (iii) determine that the shared playback device is currently configured for synchronous playback in the second group of playback devices, (iv) transmit a request to the second playback device for an indication of whether the shared playback device is available, (v) if the shared playback device is available (a) transmit a command to the shared playback device to join the first group of playback devices, and (b) play back the media content in synchrony with the shared playback device, and (v) if the shared playback device is unavailable, play back the media content without synchronizing with the shared playback device.

A control device is configured to (i) display transport controls to control playback by the control device, (ii) after connecting to a LAN, determine that one or more playback devices are connected to the LAN, (iii) detect input(s) to transfer playback to a particular playback device connected to the LAN, (iv) cause playback to be transferred to the particular playback device, including: (a) causing first cloud server(s) to transmit, to the particular playback device, resource locator(s) maintained in a shared playback queue, the resource locator(s) corresponding to respective locations of media content at second cloud server(s) of a streaming content service, (b) causing playback at the control device to be stopped, and (c) modifying the transport controls to control playback by the particular playback device, and (v) cause the particular playback device to retrieve the media content from second cloud server(s) of a streaming content service and play back the retrieved media content.

Examples described herein relate to transitioning a playback session between portable playback devices such as “smart” headphones, earbuds, and handheld speakers with playback devices of a zone-based media playback system. Exemplary techniques facilitate continuity of playback when transitioning between locations (e.g., from at home to on-the-go or vice versa) or between listening paradigms (e.g., personal or out-loud playback of audio content). An example implementation includes detecting a swap trigger, determining the source playback device(s) and target playback device(s), and performing a playback session swap between the source playback device(s) and target playback device(s).

Methods for rendering audio for playback by two or more speakers are disclosed. The audio includes one or more audio signals, each with an associated intended perceived spatial position. Relative activation of the speakers may be a cost function of a model of perceived spatial position of the audio signals when played back over the speakers, a measure of proximity of the intended perceived spatial position of the audio signals to positions of the speakers, and one or more additional dynamically configurable functions. The dynamically configurable functions may be based on at least one or more properties of the audio signals, one or more properties of the set of speakers and/or one or more external inputs.

The various implementations described herein include a video camera assembly that includes: (1) a housing; (2) an image sensor positioned within the housing and having a field of view corresponding to a scene in the smart home environment; and (3) a concave-shaped front face positioned in front of the image sensor such that light from the scene passes through the front face prior to entering the image sensor; where the front face includes: (a) an inner section corresponding to the image sensor; and (b) an outer section between the housing and the inner section, the outer section having a concave shape that extends from an outer periphery of the outer section to an inner periphery of the outer section; and where the concave shape extends around an entirety of the outer periphery.

A wireless sound-emitting device includes a housing adapted to be coupled to a wall at a source of electric power, a loudspeaker positioned at a periphery of the housing, a control module outputting an electric audio signal to the at least one loudspeaker, and a wireless communications module in electrical communication with the control module. The loudspeaker emits acoustic signals in a direction parallel to the wall, when the housing is coupled to the wall, with the acoustic signals reflecting off the wall. The device may produce a sound masking noise or play a sound recorded on an internal memory. The device may include an electric plug or be adapted to replace an electric outlet faceplate. The device may have electric pass-through outlets and may be powered by the source of electric power. The device may be controlled remotely, for example via an Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

Embodiments are directed to a speaker system that contains an array of multiple dispersion drivers that creates an expansive acoustic pattern to playback multi-channel audio content through a standalone speaker. The speaker system comprises an interface receiving stereo audio; an upmixer generating surround sound formatted audio from the stereo audio including one or more height channels; a virtualizer/downmixer component coupled to the upmixer and generating speaker feeds for two or more loudspeaker output sections, configured to play back the stereo audio, wherein each output section is further configured to play its own dedicated stereo audio signals; and a set of drivers each coupled to a respective output section and configured to project sound in at least two different dispersion patterns.

Certain embodiments relate generally to modifying audio playing on a first device based on detection of that audio by a second device. Other embodiments relate to transferring audio between a first device and a second device. More particularly, audio playing from a first device may be muted, stopped, or adjusted in volume based on detection of that audio by, or interaction with, a second device. Likewise, audio may be transferred from a first device to a second device based on communications between the first and second devices, proximity of the first and second devices relative to one another, proximity of a user to either the first or second device, and so on.

Content rules engines for playback devices are disclosed herein. A media playback system receives a first command to form a synchrony group comprising a plurality of playback devices. The system receives a second command for the synchrony group to play back first audio content. In response to the second command, the first audio content is played back via the synchrony group. The system receives (i) second audio content to be played back by one or more of the playback devices of the synchrony group and (ii) content source properties associated with an audio source of the second audio content. The system accesses a rules engine to determine playback restrictions based at least in part on the content source properties. Based at least in part on the playback restrictions, operation of one or more of the playback devices is restricted.