BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field

The invention is related to artworks and education, including paintings, sculptures, historical artifacts, and other physical works created for aesthetic and/or educational purposes. In particular, it relates to an intelligent audio enhancement system that works in conjunction with a particular work of art. It uses a motion detector to first detect the presence of an individual observing the art work when the individual is within a predetermined distance from the artwork. Once an individual is detected, the audio enhancement system then provides audio information or sounds related to the art work such that the individual is provided a broader and more complete appreciation of the art work or other item in question.

Background

Currently, art galleries and museums provide extensive collections of art works for display to the public. These art works take a variety of forms, such as paintings, sculptures, and other aesthetically pleasing works. Patrons viewing the art works frequently spend only a limited amount of time at each work and often miss out on the nuances inherent in the works as well as other information that would be impossible to convey by the art work itself. It would be desirable to have a method of enhancing the artwork with additional related information that would broaden and enhance the art patron's experience, knowledge, and enjoyment.

In addition, museums and art galleries typically prefer to display works of art without unnecessary items that may distract the viewer. In particular, it is better when displaying artwork of any kind to have a minimum amount of extraneous equipment that may distract the viewer. As such, it would be desirable to have the ability to enhance appreciation of a particular artwork by adding functionality without distracting from the artwork by minimizing the appearance of any additional equipment used to augment the artwork on display.

In addition to minimizing any distractions that might be created by additional equipment, such as audio equipment, it is also important to ensure that any additional equipment used to enhance display of the artwork or other items do not require excessive installation or maintenance costs, as well as providing an efficient and easy to implement the process of updating any information provided by the additional equipment.

While the prior art has provided a variety of ways to publicly display art and other works, it has failed to provide expanded and in-depth information related to each work of art. It would be desirable to have a method of displaying the art and providing related audio information such that a variety of information is made available to the art patron to expand the patron's appreciation of the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an audio enhancement system that is incorporated into, or used in conjunction with, public displays of artwork and other items. The system uses a local sensor/motion detector adjacent to an item of artwork to detect when an individual is in a predetermined distance from a particular displayed artwork. An audio output is also provided to output audio data under control of the local sensor/motion detector. In the preferred embodiment, the audio output is integrated with the local sensor/motion detector. Once detected, the system outputs audio information related to the artwork in question. The audio information can be distributed to audio outputs used in conjunction with a particular item of artwork by any suitable means, such as streaming audio data via hardwired or Ethernet connection to a remote system, streaming audio data via WIFI or Bluetooth connection from a remote system. Alternatively, it can be downloaded to the local sensor/motion detector during initial installation: item of artwork in a museum or gallery.

