Granted Patent B2

US 12,688,845 · App. 18/700,170 · Granted Jul 21, 2026

Inventors: Benjamin Thomas Vondersaar (Indianapolis, IN); Jean-Marc Jot (Aptos, CA); David Thomas Roach (Plantation, FL); Mathieu Parvaix (Santa Clara, CA)

Assignee: MAGIC LEAP, INC.

G10K11/17823G10K11/17881H04R1/1083H04R1/406H04R3/005G10K2210/3215H04R2410/01H04R2460/01H04R2499/15

Abstract

Claims (66)

1 . A wearable head device, comprising:

a plurality of first microphones, wherein the plurality of first microphones is co-planar;

a second microphone, wherein the second microphone is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones; and

one or more processors configured to perform:

capturing, with the first microphones and the second microphone, a sound of an environment;

forming a beamforming pattern, wherein:

the beamforming pattern comprises a location of the sound of the environment, and

the beamforming pattern comprises a component that is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones;

applying the beamforming pattern on a signal of the captured sound to generate a beamformed signal; and

processing the beamformed signal,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to further perform:

generating a first microphone signal based on the sound captured by a microphone of the plurality of first microphones;

generating a second microphone signal based on the sound captured by the second microphone;

calculating a magnitude difference, a phase difference, or both between the first and second microphone signals; and

based on the magnitude difference, the phase difference, or both, deriving a coordinate of the sound not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones.

2 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein a number of the plurality of first microphones is three.

3 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises a radial component, an azimuthal angle component, and a non-zero polar angle component.

4 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises at least one of cardioid, hypercardioid, supercardioid, dipole, bipolar, and shotgun shapes.

5 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein the processing the beamformed signal comprises at least one of:

reducing a noise level in the signal,

performing post conditioning on the signal, detecting a voice activity in the signal,

generating a speaker signal for acoustic cancellation,

analyzing an audio scene associated with the captured sound, and

compensating for a movement of the wearable head device.

6 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to further perform preconditioning the signal of the captured sound.

7 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of first microphones and the second microphone are located on a front of the wearable head device.

8 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming pattern does not include a location of a second sound on a plane co-planar with the plurality of first microphones.

9 . The wearable head device of claim 1 , wherein a microphone of the plurality of first microphones is located proximal to an ear location.

10 . A method of operating a wearable head device, comprising:

capturing, with a plurality of first microphones and a second microphone, a sound of an environment, wherein:

the plurality of first microphones is co-planar, and

the second microphone is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones;

forming a beamforming pattern, wherein:

the beamforming pattern comprises a location of the sound of the environment, and

the beamforming pattern comprises a component that is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones;

applying the beamforming pattern on a signal of the captured sound to generate a beamformed signal;

processing the beamformed signal; and

generating a first microphone signal based on the sound captured by a microphone of the plurality of first microphones;

generating a second microphone signal based on the sound captured by the second microphone;

calculating a magnitude difference, a phase difference, or both between the first and second microphone signals; and

based on the magnitude difference, the phase difference, or both, deriving a coordinate of the sound not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones.

11 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a wearable head device, cause the wearable head device to perform a method comprising:

capturing, with a plurality of first microphones and a second microphone, a sound of an environment, wherein:

the plurality of first microphones is co-planar, and

the second microphone is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones;

forming a beamforming pattern, wherein:

the beamforming pattern comprises a location of the sound of the environment, and

the beamforming pattern comprises a component that is not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones;

applying the beamforming pattern on a signal of the captured sound to generate a beamformed signal;

processing the beamformed signal;

generating a first microphone signal based on the sound captured by a microphone of the plurality of first microphones;

generating a second microphone signal based on the sound captured by the second microphone;

calculating a magnitude difference, a phase difference, or both between the first and second microphone signals; and

based on the magnitude difference, the phase difference, or both, deriving a coordinate of the sound not co-planar with the plurality of first microphones.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises a radial component, an azimuthal angle component, and a non-zero polar angle component.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises at least one of cardioid, hypercardioid, supercardioid, dipole, bipolar, and shotgun shapes.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the processing the beamformed signal comprises at least one of:

reducing a noise level in the signal,

performing post conditioning on the signal, detecting a voice activity in the signal,

generating a speaker signal for acoustic cancellation,

analyzing an audio scene associated with the captured sound, and

compensating for a movement of the wearable head device.

15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising preconditioning the signal of the captured sound.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein one of the plurality of first microphones and the second microphone are located on a front of the wearable head device.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the beamforming pattern does not include a location of a second sound on a plane co-planar with the plurality of first microphones.

18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein a microphone of the plurality of first microphones is located proximal to an ear location.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (268)