Granted Patent B2

US 12,597,513 · App. 18/372,697 · Granted Apr 7, 2026

Inventors: Steven W. Goldstein (Delray Beach, FL); John Usher (Devon, GB); Marc Andre Boillot (Plantation, FL)

Assignee: ST FamTech, LLC

G16H40/60A61B5/0205A61B5/1117A61B5/14542A61B5/6817G16H10/20G16H20/10G16H50/20G16H50/30H04M1/65H04R1/1091H04R25/70H04R29/004A61B5/021A61B5/024H04R2201/109H04R2410/05H04R2499/11

Abstract

Claims (52)

1 . A headset, comprising:

a left earpiece including:

a first left Ambient Sound Microphone (L1 ASM) configured to capture a first ambient sound,

a second left Ambient Sound Microphone (L2ASM) configured to capture a second ambient sound,

a left Ear Canal Microphone (LECM) configured to capture a first internal sound in a left ear canal, wherein the LIASM, L2ASM, and the LECM are part of a single left earpiece, wherein the LECM is placed so that it is closer to a user's left ear canal than the placement of the L1ASM when the left earpiece is being worn by user, and wherein the LECM captures the first internal sound through a first opening in the left earpiece that is within the left ear canal when the left earpiece is worn by the user, and

a left speaker configured to play a first audio content into the user's left ear canal;

a right earpiece including:

a first right Ambient Sound Microphone (R1 ASM) configured to capture a third ambient sound,

a second right Ambient Sound Microphone (R2ASM) configured to capture a fourth ambient sound, and

a right Ear Canal Microphone (RECM) configured to capture a second internal sound in a right ear canal, wherein the R1ASM, R2ASM, and the RECM are part of a single right earpiece wherein the RECM is placed so that it is closer to a user's right ear canal than the placement of the R1ASM when the right earpiece is being used by user, and wherein the RECM captures the second internal sound through a second opening in the right earpiece that Is within the right ear canal when the right earpiece is worn by the user, and

a right speaker configured to play a second audio content into the user's right ear canal, wherein the first audio content and the second audio content are played at the same time;

a memory, wherein the memory is configured to record at least one of the first ambient sound or the third ambient sound and at least one of the first internal sound or the second internal sound, and

a processor operatively coupled to the left earpiece, the right earpiece and the memory, the processor configured to save, when the processor detects the user is speaking, a first portion of the second ambient sound or second portion of the fourth ambient sound or a combination of both, wherein the processor is configured to save, when the processor detects the user is speaking, a third portion of the first internal sound or a fourth portion of the second internal sound or a combination of both, wherein the processor detects whether the user is speaking by using at least one of the first internal sound, the second internal sound, a motion sensor, or a combination of both, wherein the processor detects an event, if the user is speaking, by analyzing at least one of the first portion or the second portion or a combination of both, and wherein the left earpiece, the right earpiece, the memory and the processor are part of a single headset.

2 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein the processor detects whether the user is speaking by using the motion sensor, wherein the motion sensor is an accelerometer.

3 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein the processor also detects the event when the processor detects at least one of an abrupt movement of the headset, or a touching of the left earpiece, or a touching of the right earpiece, or a voice command, or a starting of a phone call, or an ending of a phone call or a change in location of the headset or a combination thereof.

4 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein the memory comprises:

a data buffer to temporarily capture the at least one of the first ambient sound or the third ambient sound and the at least one of the first internal sound or the second internal sound; and

a storage memory to save from the data buffer the first portion or the second portion or both.

5 . The headset of claim 4 , wherein the data buffer is a circular buffer that temporarily stores data from at least one of the first ambient sound or the third ambient sound and at least one of the first internal sound or the second internal sound, wherein the time span of the data is from a current time point to a previous time point.

6 . The headset of claim 5 , wherein the time span is two minutes.

7 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first internal sound or the second internal sound is an ambient sound, speech, or audio content.

8 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein the left earpiece and the right earpiece constitute a microphone array, and the processor increases a signal to noise ratio of audio content delivered to the headset with respect to the first or second ambient sound or a combination thereof using the microphone array.

9 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein the processor binaurally records the first ambient sound and the third ambient sound.

10 . The headset of claim 1 , further comprising:

an audio interface communicatively coupled to the processor to deliver the first audio content and the second audio content.

11 . The headset of claim 1 , wherein at least one of either the left or right earpiece is wirelessly connected to a communication device, wherein the earpiece not wirelessly connected to the communication device is wirelessly connected to the earpiece that is wirelessly connected to the communication device.

12 . An earpiece, comprising:

a first Ambient Sound Microphone (ASM1) configured to capture a first ambient sound;

a second Ambient Sound Microphone (ASM2) configured to capture a second ambient sound;

an Ear Canal Microphone (ECM) configured to capture internal sound in an ear canal;

a memory; and

a processor operatively coupled to the ECM and the memory, wherein the ASM1, the ASM2, and the ECM are part of a single earpiece, wherein the ECM is placed so that it is closer to a user's ear canal than the placement of the ASM1 when the earpiece is being worn by the user, and wherein the ECM captures the internal sound through an opening in the earpiece that is within the left ear canal when the earpiece is being worn by the user; and

a speaker configured to play an audio content into the user's ear canal while the ASM1 captures the first ambient sound and while the ASM2 captures the second ambient sound, wherein the processor saves a first portion of the captured first ambient sound and saves a second portion of the captured internal sound when the processor detects that the user is speaking, wherein the processor detects whether the user is speaking by using the internal sound and the first ambient sound, and wherein the processor detects an event, if the user is speaking, by analyzing the first ambient sound or the second ambient sound.

13 . The earpiece of claim 12 , wherein the event is detected when a modified portion of the first ambient sound matches a stored sonic signature of the event within a threshold.

14 . The earpiece of claim 13 , wherein the modified portion is a sonic signature of part of the ambient sound.

15 . The earpiece of claim 14 , wherein the event is a touching of the earpiece.

16 . The earpiece according to claim 14 , wherein the event is a voice command.

17 . The earpiece according to claim 13 , wherein the event is a starting or ending of a phone call.

18 . The earpiece according to claim 13 , wherein the event is an abrupt movement of the earpiece.

19 . A method comprising:

receiving a first sound measured from a first microphone;

receiving a second sound measured from a second microphone;

receiving a third sound measured from a third microphone;

storing the first sound into memory;

receiving motion data from a motion sensor;

storing the second sound into memory;

storing the third sound into memory;

receiving audio content from a communication device;

analyzing at least one of the first sound or the second sound or the motion data to detect a user speaking, wherein a processor performs the analysis, wherein the first microphone, the second microphone, the third microphone, the memory, the processor and a speaker are part of a single wearable device, wherein the third microphone is located closer to the user than the first or second microphones when the wearable device is worn or carried by the user;

saving a first portion of the first sound and a second portion of the second sound and a third portion of the third sound if the processor detects the user speaking; and

analyzing at least one of the first portion or the second portion or the third portion to detect a voice command.

20 . The method according to claim 19 , wherein the voice command is detected when a modified first portion or a modified second portion or a modified third portion matches a stored sonic signature within a threshold.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (12)

References Cited (400)