IP Library Granted Patent US 11,843,926
Granted Patent B2
US 11,843,926 · App. 17/557,393 · Granted Dec 12, 2023

Audio system using individualized sound profiles

Inventors: William Owen Brimijoin, II (Kirkland, WA); Nils Thomas Fritiof Lunner (Redmond, WA); Philip Robinson (Seattle, WA); Ravish Mehra (Tacoma, WA)
Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
H04R3/04G02B27/0172G06F3/013G06F3/017G06T19/006H04R1/1016H04R5/033H04R5/04H04S1/005H04S7/304G02B2027/0178
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,843,926
App. No.
17/557,393
Granted
Dec 12, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system for presenting audio content to a user. The system comprises one or more microphones coupled to a frame of a headset. The one or more microphones capture sound from a local area. The system further comprises an audio controller integrated into the headset and communicatively coupled to an in-ear device worn by a user. The audio controller identifies one or more sound sources in the local area based on the captured sound. The audio controller further determines a target sound source of the one or more sound sources and determines one or more filters to apply to a sound signal associated with the target sound source in the captured sound. The audio controller further generates an augmented sound signal by applying the one or more filters to the sound signal and provides the augmented sound signal to the in-ear device for presentation to a user.

Claims (49)

1. A method comprising:

capturing, by one or more microphones, a leakage signal from an in-ear device that is separate from and communicatively coupled to a headset;

determining a mitigation signal to substantially prevent the leakage signal, the mitigation signal is out-of-phase to the leakage signal; and

providing, via a speaker assembly coupled to the headset, the mitigation signal as an output signal, wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the in-ear device is presenting audio content that corresponds to the leakage signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal in a far field.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting that a target sound source is within a threshold distance of a different sound source in a local area, wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal received by the different sound source;

updating one or more filters to increase spatial separation between the target sound source and the different sound source to be at least a separation distance that is greater than the threshold distance;

generating an augmented sound signal by applying the one or more filters to a sound signal; and

providing the augmented sound signal to the speaker assembly for presentation to a user.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more filters are based in part on one or more of: a location of the user in the local area, a location of each of one or more sound sources in the local area, one or more acoustic parameters of the local area, and types of sound sources in the local area.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining one or more filters to apply to a sound signal associated with a target sound source;

selecting a wide dynamic range compression filter that corresponds to the target sound source from a plurality of wide dynamic range compression filters, wherein each of the plurality of wide dynamic range compression filters corresponds to a different respective sound sources in a local area;

generating an augmented sound signal by applying the one or more filters to the sound signal; and

providing the augmented sound signal to the speaker assembly for presentation to a user.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a target sound source based in part on a gaze of a user.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a target sound source based in part on a verbal cue provided by a user of the headset.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

capturing an image of a gesture performed by a user of the headset;

determining that the gesture corresponds to a selection of a sound source; and

selecting the sound source as a target sound source.

10. A headset comprising:

one or more microphones coupled to a frame of the headset, the one or more microphones configured to capture sounds from a local area, the captured sounds including a leakage signal from an in-ear device that is separate from and communicatively coupled to the headset;

an audio controller integrated into the headset and communicatively coupled to the in-ear device worn by a user, the audio controller configured to:

determine a mitigation signal to substantially prevent the leakage signal, the mitigation signal is out-of-phase to the leakage signal; and

a speaker assembly configured to provide the mitigation signal as an output signal, wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal.

11. The headset of claim 10 , wherein the in-ear device is presenting audio content that corresponds to the leakage signal.

12. The headset of claim 10 , wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal in a far field.

13. The headset of claim 10 , wherein the audio controller is further configured to:

detect that a target sound source is within a threshold distance of a different sound source in the local area, wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal received by the different sound source;

update one or more filters to increase spatial separation between the target sound source and the different sound source to be at least a separation distance that is greater than the threshold distance;

generate an augmented sound signal by applying the one or more filters to a sound signal; and

provide the augmented sound signal to the speaker assembly for presentation to the user.

14. The headset of claim 13 , wherein the one or more filters are based in part on one or more of: a location of the user in the local area, a location of each of one or more sound sources in the local area, one or more acoustic parameters of the local area, and types of sound sources in the local area.

15. The headset of claim 10 , wherein the audio controller is further configured to:

determine one or more filters to apply to a sound signal associated with a target sound source;

select a wide dynamic range compression filter that corresponds to the target sound source from a plurality of wide dynamic range compression filters, wherein each of the plurality of wide dynamic range compression filters corresponds to a different respective sound sources in the local area;

generate an augmented sound signal by applying the one or more filters to the sound signal; and

provide the augmented sound signal to the speaker assembly for presentation to the user.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising stored instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to:

capture, by one or more microphones, a leakage signal from an in-ear device that is separate from and communicatively coupled to a headset;

determine a mitigation signal to substantially prevent the leakage signal, the mitigation signal is out-of-phase to the leakage signal; and

provide, via a speaker assembly coupled to the headset, the mitigation signal as an output signal, wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the in-ear device is presenting audio content that corresponds to the leakage signal.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the mitigation signal suppresses the leakage signal in a far field.

Assignments (1)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 8, 2022
From: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
To: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 060314/0965 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 16945388 · Jul 31, 2020
Provisional Application 63052016 · Jul 15, 2020
Related Publication 20220116705A1 · Apr 14, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,219,331