Audio control for extended-reality shared space

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12425762-B2
Application number	US-202217835561-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2022
Priority date	Jul 9, 2020
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for audio signal processing are presented. Some configurations include determining that first audio activity in at least one microphone signal is voice activity; determining whether the voice activity is voice activity of a participant in an application session active on a device; based at least on a result of the determining whether the voice activity is voice activity of a participant in the application session, generating an antinoise signal to cancel the first audio activity; and by a loudspeaker, producing an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal. Applications relating to shared virtual spaces are described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An extended reality headset for audio signal processing, the extended reality headset comprising:
a memory configured to store at least one microphone signal; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
determine that first audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of a first participant in an application session active between at least the first participant and a second participant, wherein the first participant is a user of the extended reality headset and the second participant is a user of a device;
determine a context of the first participant with respect to the application session, wherein the context indicates that at least one of a voice of the first participant in the application session is currently disabled, the first participant in the application session is in a private mode with at least one other participant of the application session, or the voice of the first participant in the application session is blocked by a virtual barrier;
based at least on the determined context of the first participant with respect to the application session and the determination that the first audio activity is voice activity of the first participant in the application session active on the device, generate an antinoise signal to cancel the first audio activity including the voice activity of the first participant in the application session active on the device; and
cause a loudspeaker to produce an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal.

2. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that second audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of a non-participant in the application session;
based at least on the determination that the second audio activity is voice activity of the non-participant in the application session, generate an antinoise signal to cancel the second audio activity; and
cause the loudspeaker to produce an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal.

3. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
in response to at least the determination that the first audio activity is voice activity of the first participant in the application session, cause wireless transmission of an indication that a participant in the application session is speaking.

4. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that second audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of an additional participant in the application session; and
based at least on the determination that the second audio activity is voice activity of the additional participant in the application session, refrain from generating an antinoise signal to cancel the second audio activity.

5. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
detect a mode change condition associated with the application session;
in response to the detected mode change condition, cause wireless transmission of an indication of a mode change; and
refrain from generating an antinoise signal to cancel the first audio activity based on the detected mode change condition.

6. The extended reality headset according to claim 5 , wherein detecting the mode change condition is based on a result of at least one of a facial recognition operation or a gaze detection operation.

7. The extended reality headset according to claim 5 , wherein detecting the mode change condition is based on a result of at least one of a keyword detection or a detection of a change of at least one of position or orientation of the extended reality headset.

8. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive a wireless indication of a mode change associated with the application session;
determine that second audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of an additional participant in the application session;
in response to the wireless indication of a mode change, generate an antinoise signal to cancel the second audio activity; and
cause the loudspeaker to produce an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal.

9. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the application session is a session of a gaming application.

10. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the application session is a session of an application for sharing a virtual space.

11. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that second audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of a non-participant in the application session; and
based at least on the determination that the second audio activity is voice activity of the non-participant in the application session, refrain from generating an antinoise signal to cancel the second audio activity.

12. The extended reality headset according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
generate the antinoise signal or an additional antinoise signal to cancel audio activity of at least one non-participant of the application session; and
cause the loudspeaker to produce an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal or the additional antinoise signal.

13. The extended reality headset of claim 1 , wherein the device includes an additional extended reality headset.

14. The extended reality headset of claim 1 , wherein the first participant in the application session is registered with an application implementing the application session.

15. A method of audio signal processing at an extended reality headset, the method comprising:
determining that first audio activity in at least one microphone signal is voice activity of a first participant in an application session active between at least the first participant and a second participant, wherein the first participant is a user of the extended reality headset and the second participant is a user of a device;
determining a context of the first participant with respect to the application session, wherein the context indicates that at least one of a voice of the first participant in the application session is currently disabled, the first participant in the application session is in a private mode with at least one other participant of the application session, or the voice of the first participant in the application session is blocked by a virtual barrier;
based at least on the determined context of the first participant with respect to the application session and the determination that the first audio activity is voice activity of the first participant in the application session active on the device, generating an antinoise signal to cancel the first audio activity including the voice activity of the first participant in the application session active on the device; and
causing a loudspeaker to produce an acoustic signal that is based on the antinoise signal.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining that second audio activity in the at least one microphone signal is voice activity of a non-participant in the application session;
based at least on determining that the second audio activity is voice activity of the non-participant in the application session, generating an antinoise signal to cancel the second audio activity; and
causing the loudspeaker

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Tartz Robert
• Beith Scott
• Tavakoli Mehrad
• Reitmayr Gerhard

Classifications

• H04S5/00

  Pseudo-stereo systems, e.g. in which additional channel signals are derived from monophonic signals by means of phase shifting, time delay or reverberation · CPC title

• H04R3/005

  for combining the signals of two or more microphones (specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407) · CPC title

• G10K2210/12

  Rooms, e.g. ANC inside a room, office, concert hall or automobile cabin · CPC title

• G10K2210/103

  Three dimensional · CPC title

• G10K11/178

  by electro-acoustically regenerating the original acoustic waves in anti-phase · CPC title