Multi-stage body engagement detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021306731-A1
Application number	US-202016835856-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 31, 2020
Priority date	Mar 31, 2020
Publication date	Sep 30, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to an aspect of the disclosure, an audio device is provided comprising a communications interface configured to be communicatively coupled to an audio source, at least one sensor, and a controller configured to control the audio device to be in a low-power mode, receive, from the sensor(s), information indicative of a presence of a user's body, initiate, via the communications interface responsive to receiving the information, a wireless communication pairing process to establish a wireless communication bond with the audio source prior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the user's body, determine, subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process and based on information received from the sensor(s), that the audio device is fully engaged with the user's body, and control, responsive to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the user's body, the audio device to be in an active mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An audio device comprising:
a communications interface configured to be communicatively coupled to an audio source; at least one sensor; and a controller coupled to the communications interface and the at least one sensor, the controller being configured to:
control the audio device to be in a low-power mode;
receive, from the at least one sensor, information indicative of a presence of a body of a user;
initiate, via the communications interface responsive to receiving the information indicative of the presence of the user, a wireless communication pairing process to establish a wireless communication bond with the audio source prior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user;
determine, subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process and based on information received from the at least one sensor, that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user; and
control, responsive to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user, the audio device to be in an active mode.

2 . The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor includes a first sensor configured to provide the information indicative of the presence of the body of the user, and wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive, from a second sensor of the at least one sensor, movement information indicative of movement of the audio device; and activate, responsive to receiving the movement information indicative of movement of the audio device, the first sensor to provide the information indicative of the presence of the body of the user.

3 . The audio device of claim 2 , wherein the first sensor includes at least one infrared sensor.

4 . The audio device of claim 3 , wherein the first sensor includes at least one of an infrared sensor to detect a user's tragus and an infrared sensor to detect a user's concha.

5 . The audio device of claim 1 , wherein in determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user, the controller is further configured to:
receive, from the at least one sensor, orientation information indicative of an orientation of the audio device; and determine, based on the orientation information, that the audio device is in a valid orientation.

6 . The audio device of claim 5 , wherein in determining that the audio device is in the valid orientation, the controller is configured to:
determine that a first orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio device about a pitch axis is within a first range of values; and determine that a second orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio device about a roll axis is within a second range of values.

7 . The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive, from the at least one sensor subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process, orientation information indicative of an orientation of the audio device; determine, based on the orientation information, that the audio device is not in a valid orientation; determine, based on determining that the audio device is not in the valid orientation, that the audio device is not fully engaged with the body of the user.

8 . The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine, based on the information indicative of the presence of the user, that the audio device is disengaged from the body of the user; determine whether the audio device has been disengaged from the body of the user for at least a threshold period of time; and control, responsive to determining that the audio device has been disengaged from the body of the user for at least the threshold period of time, the audio device to transition from the active mode to the low-power mode.

9 . The audio device of claim 8 , wherein in controlling the audio device to be in the active mode, the controller is further configured to:
disable or modify at least one compressor in a feedforward signal path executed by the controller; and modify an active noise reduction control scheme executed by the controller to increase active noise reduction by the audio device.

10 . A method of operating an audio device including a communications interface and at least one sensor, the method comprising:
controlling the audio device to be in a low-power mode; receiving, from the at least one sensor, information indicative of a presence of a body of a user; initiating, via the communications interface responsive to receiving the information indicative of the presence of the user, a wireless communication pairing process to establish a wireless communication bond with an audio source prior to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user; determining, subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process and based on information received from the at least one sensor, whether the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user; and controlling, responsive to determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user, the audio device to be in an active mode.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor includes a first sensor configured to provide the information indicative of the presence of the body of the user, the method further comprising:
receiving, from a second sensor of the at least one sensor, movement information indicative of movement of the audio device; and activating, responsive to receiving the movement information indicative of movement of the audio device, the first sensor to provide the information indicative of the presence of the body of the user.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein determining that the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user includes:
receiving, from the at least one sensor, orientation information indicative of an orientation of the audio device; and determining, based on the orientation information, that the audio device is in a valid orientation.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining that the audio device is in the valid orientation includes:
determining that a first orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio device about a pitch axis is within a first range of values; and determining that a second orientation value indicative of an orientation of the audio device about a roll axis is within a second range of values.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein determining whether the audio device is fully engaged with the body of the user includes:
receiving, from the at least one sensor subsequent to initiating the wireless communication pairing process, orientation information indicative of an orientation of the audio device; determining, based on the orientation information, that the audio device is not in a valid orientation; and determining, based on determining that the audio device is not in the valid orientation, that the audio device is not fully engaged with the body of the user.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein controlling the audio device to be in the active mode includes:
disabling or modifying at least one compressor in a feedforward signal path; and modifying an active noise reduction control scheme to increase active noise reduction by the audio device.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon sequences of computer-executable instructions for operating an audio device including a communications interface and at least one sensor, the seq

Assignees

• Bose Corp

Inventors

• Minich David
• Malaver Josue
• Israelowitz Miriam
• Delhoume Alexia
• Gelberger Michelle

Classifications

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04R1/1008

  Earpieces of the supra-aural or circum-aural type · CPC title

• H04R1/1016

  Earpieces of the intra-aural type · CPC title

• H04R1/1041 Primary

  Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements (switches in general H01H) · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title