Method to expedite playing of binaural sound to a listener
View Patent ↗A method expedites processing and playing of binaural sound during an electronic communication between a first user and a second user. An electronic device of the first user convolves sound into binaural sound for the second user before the binaural sound transmits to the electronic device of the second user. In this way, the binaural sound is already convolved and ready to play upon receipt at the electronic device of the second user.
1 . A method that improves an electronic communication between a software program and a person, the method comprising:
processing, with a server during the electronic communication between the software program and the person and before a voice of the software program is transmitted to the person, the voice of the software program into binaural sound with customized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) of the person;
receiving, during the electronic communication and at a portable electronic device (PED) with the person, the voice of the software program in the binaural sound processed by the server with the customized HRTFs of the person; and
playing, with the PED to the person and during the electronic communication, the voice of the software program in the binaural sound processed by the server with the customized HRTFs such that the voice externally localizes to the person outside a head of the person.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the software program is an intelligent personal assistant with whom the person communicates via voice during the electronic communication.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the software program is a machine learning agent with whom the person communicates via voice during the electronic communication.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the software program is a user agent with whom the person communicates via voice during the electronic communication.
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, before the electronic communication commences, whether the person has given the software program access privilege to the customized HRTFs of the person;
processing the voice of the software program with the customized HRTFs when the software program has the access privilege; and
denying access to the customized HRTFs when the software program does not have the access privilege.
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, at the PED, input from the person that identifies whether the software program has access to the customized HRTFs of the person, wherein the PED is a head mounted display (HMD) worn on the head of the person.
7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
storing, at the server, a list of software programs that have privilege to the customized HRTFs of the person;
determining, from the list, whether the software program is on the list and has the privilege to the customized HRTFs of the person; and
processing the voice of the software program with the customized HRTFs of the person in response to determining the software program is on the list.
8 . A method that improves an electronic communication between a software program and a person, the method comprising:
processing, with one or more servers and during the electronic communication between the software program and the person, a voice of the software program into binaural sound with customized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) of the person;
transmitting, to a wearable electronic device (WED) of the person and during the electronic communication between the software program and the person, the voice of the software program in the binaural sound that was processed by the one or more servers with the customized HRTFs of the person; and
playing, during the electronic communication and through speakers of the WED of the person, the voice of the software program in the binaural sound that was processed by the one or more servers with the customized HRTFs of the person,
wherein the software program includes a machine learning agent, an intelligent user agent, or an intelligent personal assistant.
9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
storing, at the one or more servers, the customized HRTFs of the person and a list of software programs that have access privileges to the customized HRTFs of the person.
10 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
determining, by the one or more servers, whether the software program has authorization to have the voice of the software program processed with the customized HRTFs of the person.
11 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
displaying, with a display of the WED of the person, privacy settings that enable the person to control whether or not the software program is authorized to access and process sound with the customized HRTFs of the person.
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the software program executes during a virtual reality (VR) software game or an augmented reality (AR) software game, and the WED of the person is one of a head mounted display (HMD) or electronic glasses.
13 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
determining whether the person provided authorization to the software program to access the customized HRTFs of the person;
processing the voice of the software program with the customized HRTFs of the person in response to determining that the person provided the authorization to the software program to access the customized HRTFs of the person; and
playing the voice of the software program in stereo sound or mono sound in response to determining that the person did not provide the authorization to the software program to access the customized HRTFs of the person.
14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the WED of the person is one of a head mounted display (HMD) and electronic glasses, and the one or more servers store the customized HRTFs of the person.
15 . An electronic system that improves an electronic communication between a person and a software program, the electronic system comprising:
one or more servers that process, during the electronic communication, a voice of the software program with customized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) of the person into binaural sound and transmit the voice of the software program processed with the customized HRTFs to the person; and
a portable electronic device (PED) of the person that includes a receiver that receives the voice of the software program in the binaural sound processed with the customized HRTFs of the person by the one or more servers and one or more speakers that play the voice of the software program in the binaural sound that externally localizes outside a head of the person,
wherein the software program includes a machine learning agent, an intelligent user agent, or an intelligent personal assistant.
16 . The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more servers determine whether the software program has access privileges to the customized HRTFs of the person before processing the voice of the software program in the binaural sound with the customized HRTFs of the person.
17 . The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more servers store the customized HRTFs of the person and store access privileges that include whether the software program has rights to the customized HRTFs of the person.
18 . The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the PED is a head mounted display (HMD) worn on the head of the person, and the one or more servers store instructions that when executed determine whether the person authorized the voice of the software program to play in the binaural sound.
19 . The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more servers change the voice of the software program from being played to the person in the binaural sound to being played to the person in one of mono sound and stereo sound in response to determining that the software program does not have access privilege to the customized HRTFs of the person.
20 . The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the PED of the person includes a display that displays privacy settings that enable the person to select which software programs have access privileges to the customized HRTFs of the person that are stored at the one or more servers.