Apparatus and method for enhancing sound produced by a gaming application

1. A computing device, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations comprising:

obtaining an otological profile of a user of the computing device;

detecting a selection of a software application, wherein the selection is initiated by an equipment of the user, wherein the otological profile is associated with the selected software application;

monitoring a gaming sound generated by the selected software application executing on a device integral with or communicatively coupled with the computing device;

adjusting the gaming sound in accordance with the otological profile; and

audibly presenting the adjusted sound by way of equipment used by the user,

wherein the adjusting comprises sampling the gaming sound to obtain a first time domain signal, translating the first time domain signal to a frequency domain signal, processing the frequency domain signal according to the otological profile, and translating the processed signal to a second time domain signal to obtain the adjusted sound, wherein the adjusted sound has a frequency shifted from that of the gaming sound.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting comprises detecting sound in a specific spectral segment defined in the otological profile, and modifying spectral aspects of the detected sound.

3. The computing device of claim 2 , wherein the otological profile is determined from an audio test performed on the user.

4. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a gaming accessory, and the instructions comprise an accessory management software (AMS) application.

5. The computing device of claim 4 , wherein the software application is a gaming application, and the AMS is integral with the gaming application.

6. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the software application is an interactive software application for determining the otological profile of the user.

7. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise associating an avatar with the otological profile of the user.

8. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the software application comprises a gaming application, wherein a first otological profile and a second otological profile of the user are associated with a first avatar and a second avatar respectively, the first avatar and the second avatar being selected from a list of avatars in the gaming application, and wherein the operations further comprise storing the first otological profile and the second otological profile.

9. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the otological profile is responsive to a selection by the user.

10. A method comprising:

identifying, by a system comprising a processor, an otological profile of a user;

detecting, by the system, a selection of a software application, wherein the selection is initiated by an equipment of the user, wherein the otological profile is associated with the selected software application;

detecting, by the system, sound generated by the selected software application in a specific spectral segment identified in the otological profile, wherein the detected sound is a gaming sound;

modifying, by the system, the gaming sound in accordance with the otological profile to obtain a modified sound; and

audibly presenting, by the system, the modified sound,

wherein the otological profile is generated from a hearing test performed by the user,

wherein the modifying comprises adjusting spectral aspects of the gaming sound, and

wherein the modified sound has a frequency shifted from that of the gaming sound.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

detecting a user selection of a gaming profile; and

associating the gaming profile with the selected software application.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the system comprises a gaming accessory, and wherein the software application is a gaming application.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising performing the hearing test.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising associating, by the system, an avatar with the otological profile of the user.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the hearing test that generates the otological profile is performed by a device other than the system.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

detecting a selection of a software application, wherein the selection is initiated by equipment of a user;

retrieving an otological profile of the user associated with the selected software application;

detecting sound generated by the selected software application in a specific spectral segment identified in the otological profile of the user, wherein the detected sound is a gaming sound;

modifying the spectral segment in accordance with a spectral adjustment defined in the otological profile to obtain a modified sound having a frequency shifted from that of the gaming sound; and

presenting the modified spectral segment, wherein an ability of the user to hear the modified sound is enhanced relative to the gaming sound.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the software application comprises a video game.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the executable instructions are embedded in the software application.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise associating an avatar with the otological profile of the user.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a selection of the avatar from a list of avatars in the software application, and wherein the otological profile is retrieved responsive to the selection.