Display where a voice of a calling party will externally localize as binaural sound for a telephone call

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10999427-B2
Application number	US-201715406829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2017
Priority date	Apr 10, 2016
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device executes a method that displays a location to a called party where a voice of a calling party will localize as binaural sound in a telephone call. The method displays an image representing the called party and an image representing the calling party with respect to each other so the called party can visually determine where the voice of the calling party will externally localize as the binaural sound.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
solving a problem of a called party to a telephone call not knowing in advance where a voice of a calling party will localize as binaural sound with respect to the called party by:
receiving, at a wearable electronic device worn by the called party, the telephone call from the calling party; and
displaying, with a display of the wearable electronic device and before the called party answers the telephone call from the calling party, an image representing a sound localization point (SLP) for the voice of the calling party and an image representing the called party in a frame-of-reference so the called party visually determines from the display where the voice of the calling party will externally localize as binaural sound with respect to the called party before the called party answers the incoming telephone call from the calling party.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
convolving the voice of the calling party with a pair of head related transfer functions (HRTFs) having coordinates of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle; and
displaying the image representing the SLP at a location on the display of the wearable electronic device that corresponds to the coordinates for the pair of HRTFs before the called party answers the incoming telephone call from the calling party.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, during the telephone call, a command from the called party to move the voice of the calling party from externally localizing as the binaural sound to the called party at the SLP to internally localizing the voice of the calling party; and
providing, in response to receiving the command, the voice of the calling party to the called party in monophonic sound or stereo sound.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying, with the wearable electronic device and during the telephone call, a graphical icon that when selected stops the voice of the calling party from externally localizing to the SLP and begins providing the voice of the calling party in monophonic sound or stereo sound; and
displaying, with the wearable electronic device and during the telephone call, a graphical icon that when selected resumes the voice of the calling party to externally localizing to the SLP and stops providing the voice of the calling party in the monophonic sound or the stereo sound.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying, with the wearable electronic device and before the called party answers the telephone call from the calling party, the image representing the SLP on the display with coordinate locations that match coordinate locations in head related transfer functions (HRTFs) used to convolve the voice of the calling party, wherein the image representing the SLP on the display is an image representing the calling party.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying, on the display of the wearable electronic device and before the called party answers the telephone call, three graphical icons that enable the called party to select between answering the telephone call in monophonic sound to localize the voice inside a head of the called party, answering the telephone call to externally localize the voice to a right side of the head of the called party, and answering the telephone call to externally localize the voice to a left side of the head of the called party.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
assisting the called party in determining where to externally localize the voice of the calling party by displaying, before the called party answers the telephone call and in three-dimensional (3D) space away from the image representing the called party, a visual indication that is a recommended SLP for the called party to localize the voice of the calling party.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, at the wearable electronic device and from the called party, a command to cause announcements that originate from SLPs away from the called party; and
providing, in response to the command to cause the announcements, the SLPs to speak in a voice so the called party tests sound localization of each of the SLPs.

9. A method comprising:
providing, by a handheld portable electronic device (HPED), a user interface (UI) with a frame-of-reference on a display that shows a person in advance of answering a telephone call a location of a sound localization point (SLP) where a voice of a caller will externally localize with respect to the person by:
displaying, with the display of the HPED and before the person answers the telephone call, the UI with the frame-of-reference that includes both an image that represents the person and a graphical icon at the SLP with respect to the image that represents the person so that the display shows where the SLP is located with respect to the person and where the voice of the caller will externally localize as binaural sound to the person when the telephone call is answered, wherein the SLP where the voice of the caller will externally localize as the binaural sound is one meter or more away from the person.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
receiving, from the person and during the telephone call, a command to move the SLP of the voice of the caller that is located one meter or more away from the person to a location inside a head of the person.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
displaying the graphical icon at the SLP at a location on the display corresponding to coordinates derived from coordinate locations of head related transfer functions (HRTFs) that convolve the voice of the caller so the voice of the caller localizes at the SLP one meter or more away from the person when the telephone call is answered.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
displaying, with the display of the HPED, a plurality of graphical icons at SLPs that form a partial sphere; and
displaying the graphical icon at the SLP on the display as a recommended location for where the voice of the caller will externally localize to the person when the telephone call is answered by visually distinguishing the graphical icon at the SLP from the plurality of graphical icons at the SLPs so the person sees where the HPED recommends localizing the voice of the caller.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
displaying, on the display of the HPED and before the person answers the telephone call, the image that represents the person with a forward-looking direction; and
displaying, on the display of the HPED and before the person answers the telephone call, the graphical icon at the SLP at an azimuth angle (θ) equal to +20° or +30° with respect to the forward-looking direction.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
displaying, on the display of the HPED and before the person answers the telephone call, three graphical icons that represent SLPs where the voice of the caller can externally localize with respect to a forward-looking direction of the person, wherein the three graphical icons include the graphical icon at the SLP that is located on a right side of the forward-looking direction, another graphical icon that is located on a left side of the forward-looking direction, and another graphical icon that is located at the image that represents the person.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
displaying, on the display of the HPED and before the person answers the telephone call, three graphical icons that enable the person to select between answering the telephone call in monophonic sound to localize inside a head of

Assignees

• Lyren Philip Scott
• Norris Glen A

Inventors

• Lyren Philip Scott
• Norris Glen A

Classifications

• H04N7/147

  Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals (selecting H04Q) · CPC title

• H04N7/15

  Conference systems · CPC title

• H04S7/304 Primary

  For headphones · CPC title

• G06F3/04817

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title

• G06F3/165

  Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path · CPC title