Voice-Enhanced Awareness Mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017194020-A1
Application number	US-201514985112-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing ambient awareness are provided. An example method includes receiving an acoustic signal representing at least one captured ambient sound and determining that at least one triggering event has occurred based at least on the acoustic signal, a user profile, and a user context. In response to the determination, the method proceeds to modify, based on the at least one triggering event, the acoustic signal which represents the at least one captured ambient sound. The modified acoustic signal is provided to at least one ear canal of a user. In an exemplary embodiment, ambient sounds are selectively passed through automatically to a user based on certain triggering events, allowing a user to be able to hear sounds outside of headset while the user is wearing the headset. The triggering events may be selected by the user, for example, using a smartphone application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for providing ambient awareness, the method comprising:
receiving an acoustic signal, the acoustic signal representing at least one captured ambient sound; determining that at least one triggering event has occurred based at least on one of the acoustic signal, a user profile, and a user context; in response to the determination, modifying, based on the at least one triggering event, the acoustic signal; and providing the modified acoustic signal to at least one ear canal of a user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying includes adjusting an amount of noise suppression performed on the acoustic signal based on the user profile.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one triggering event includes detection of a moving object.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one triggering event includes detection of a specific sound present in the acoustic signal.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the specific sound includes one or more of the following: a voice of a person, a voice sound including a person's name, at least one pre-defined word being spoken, a sound of a car horn, a sound of a siren, and a sound of a baby crying.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying the acoustic signal includes:
separating the acoustic signal into a voice component and a noise component; and keeping the voice component in the acoustic signal while suppressing the noise component.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing to the user at least one of the following: an alert signal and a warning message based on the at least one triggering event.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user context includes one or more of the following: a schedule in a user calendar, a user location, a day of week, a time of day, a current user location, and a current user movement.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user profile includes at least one definition of the at least one triggering event and at least one rule for the modifying the acoustic signal in response to an occurrence of the at least one triggering event.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing an application for customizing the user profile.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one triggering event is based on a combination of at least two of the acoustic signal, the user profile, and the user context.

12 . A system for providing ambient awareness, the system comprising:
a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled with the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, perform a method comprising:
receiving an acoustic signal, the acoustic signal including at least one captured ambient sound;
determining that at least one triggering event has occurred based at least on one of the acoustic signal, a user profile, and a user context;
in response to the determination, modifying, based on the at least one triggering event, the acoustic signal; and
providing the modified acoustic signal to at least one ear canal of a user.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the modifying includes adjusting an amount of noise suppression performed on the acoustic signal based on the user profile.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one triggering event includes detection of a moving object.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one triggering event includes detection that a specific sound is present in the acoustic signal, the specific sound including one or more of the following: a voice of a person, a voice sound including a person's name, at least one pre-defined word being spoken, a sound of a car horn, a sound of a siren, and a sound of baby crying.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the modifying the acoustic signal includes:
separating the acoustic signal into a voice component and a noise component; and keeping the voice component in the acoustic signal while suppressing the noise component.

17 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising providing to the user one of an alert signal and a warning message based on the at least one triggering event.

18 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the user context includes one or more of the following: a schedule in a user calendar, a user location, a day of week, a time of day, a current user location, a current user movement, and a current position taken by the user.

19 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the user profile includes at least one definition of the at least one triggering event and at least one rule for the modifying the acoustic signal when the at least one triggering event occurs.

20 . The system of claim 19 , further comprising providing an application for customizing the user profile.

21 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, perform steps of a method, the method comprising:
receiving an acoustic signal, the acoustic signal including at least one captured ambient sound; determining that at least one triggering event has occurred based at least on one of the acoustic signal, a user profile, and a user context; in response to the determination, modifying, based on the at least one triggering event, the acoustic signal; and providing the modified acoustic signal to at least one ear canal of a user.

Assignees

• Knowles Electronics Llc

Inventors

• Miller Thomas E
• Gadonniex Sharon

Classifications

• G10K2210/30231

  Sources, e.g. identifying noisy processes or components · CPC title

• H04R2460/01

  Hearing devices using active noise cancellation · CPC title

• H04W8/205

  Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier · CPC title

• H04R1/1016

  Earpieces of the intra-aural type · CPC title

• H04R1/1083 Primary

  Reduction of ambient noise (active noise reduction per se G10K11/175; protective devices for the ear, e.g. providing acoustic protection A61F11/06) · CPC title