Eyewear device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12457446-B2
Application number	US-202318328072-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2023
Priority date	Jun 17, 2022
Publication date	Oct 28, 2025
Grant date	Oct 28, 2025

Abstract

An eyewear device and a method performed at an eyewear device is described, the eyewear device comprising: a frame comprising one or more elements configured, in use, to be in physical contact with at least one body part of a user or wearer of the eyewear device; one or more arms; and one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves generated at the one or more elements. The method comprises: receiving one or more signals indicative of internal body sounds from the one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves transmitted by the one or more elements; and processing said signals.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An eyewear device comprising:
a frame comprising one or more elements configured, in use, to be in physical contact with at least one body part of a user or wearer of the eyewear device; one or more arms; one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves generated at the one or more elements; and at least one channel, wherein a respective one of the at least one channel is provided between a respective one of the one or more microphones and a respective one of the one or more elements, wherein the at least one channel comprises air and is an air-tight channel, and wherein the respective channel is configured to transfer respective pressure waves from the respective element to the respective microphone.

2 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one channel is provided, at least in part, in one or more of said arms of the eyewear device.

3 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more microphones are provided in at least one of said arms.

4 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the eyewear device comprises one or more hinges configured so that the one or more arms are moveable between a folded position and an unfolded position, wherein the one or more hinges connect channels within the eyewear device.

5 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said connected channels are air-tight when the one or more arms are in the unfolded position.

6 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more microphones are provided at or within the frame.

7 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the eyewear device comprises one or more hinges configured so that the one or more arms are moveable between a folded position and an unfolded position, wherein the one or more hinges comprise one or more electric contacts configured to connect the one or more microphones to one or more electronic modules of the eyewear device respectively.

8 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more elements are conical.

9 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more elements comprise an elastomer material.

10 . An eyewear device as claimed claim 1 , wherein the at least one body part of the user or wearer of the eyewear device comprises the user's or wearer's nasal area.

11 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the eyewear device is configured to detect internal body sounds comprising at least one of: one or more eyeball movements, eye winking, speech, whispered speech, respiration, heartbeat, chewing movements, sneezes, or coughs.

12 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the eyewear device to:
receive one or more signals indicative of internal body sounds from the one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves transmitted by the one or more elements; and
process said signals.

13 . An eyewear device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein processing said signals comprises combining the one or more signals with one or more speech signals from the one or more microphones to detect speech of the user or wearer.

14 . A method comprising:
receiving, at an eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 , one or more signals indicative of internal body sounds from the one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves transmitted by the one or more elements; and processing, at said eyewear device, said signals.

15 . A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein processing said signals comprises detecting or analyzing movements or speech of the user or wearer.

16 . A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein processing said signals comprises combining the one or more signals with one or more speech signals from the one or more microphones to detect speech of the user or wearer.

17 . A method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein processing said signals comprises providing an output indicative of a user instruction for a user interface.

18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for causing a processor of an eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 to perform at least the following:
receiving one or more signals indicative of internal body sounds from the one or more microphones, wherein the one or more microphones are configured to detect pressure waves transmitted by the one or more elements; and
processing said signals.

Assignees

• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Radivojevic Zoran

Classifications

• H04R1/08

  Mouthpieces; {Microphones;} Attachments therefor · CPC title

• H04R1/028 Primary

  associated with devices performing functions other than acoustics, e.g. electric candles · CPC title

• G10L25/78

  Detection of presence or absence of voice signals (switching of direction of transmission by voice frequency in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/10) · CPC title

• G06F3/167

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G02C5/00

  Constructions of non-optical parts · CPC title