Earbud Microphone Cardioid Pattern Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless audio devices often suffer from limited processing bandwidth and battery life, leading to a risk of users being unaware of important ambient sounds, such as alerts or dangers, due to operating at high volumes that obscure surrounding environments.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a host computing device and an audio device with microphones, where the host device collects user environment data, determines a characterization profile, and sends it to the audio device to adapt its microphone cardioid pattern, allowing the audio device to dynamically adjust its performance characteristics to prioritize important sounds, such as human speech, while reducing background noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If audio device operates at high volume to provide immersive audio experience, then audio quality and user engagement with media is improved, but user awareness of ambient sounds deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The audio device segments the audio output into two independent channels: a first channel for media audio and a second channel for ambient audio. This allows the device to simultaneously provide high-quality media playback and ambient sound awareness without compromising either function, resolving the contradiction between audio quality and ambient awareness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension to audio perception by adding a separate ambient audio channel alongside the traditional media audio channel. This dimensional separation allows users to hear both media content and ambient sounds simultaneously, eliminating the trade-off between media quality and environmental awareness.
2Loss of information
If audio device uses multiple microphones and sensors for environmental awareness, then ambient sound detection is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The audio device integrates multiple microphones and sensors into a unified system that serves multiple functions: media audio playback, ambient sound detection, spatial audio rendering, and user awareness alerts. This multi-functionality approach allows the device to detect and process ambient sounds effectively without proportionally increasing complexity, as the same components serve overlapping purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor acts as an intermediary that coordinates the multiple microphones and sensors, managing their data streams and synthesizing the information into actionable ambient awareness outputs. This central coordination mechanism simplifies the overall system architecture by providing a single point of control for multiple sensing components.
3Loss of information
If audio device dynamically adjusts cardioid pattern to prioritize important sounds, then user awareness of critical ambient sounds is improved, but processing bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The audio device applies partial action by dynamically adjusting the cardioid pattern only when and where needed - specifically when critical ambient sounds are detected. Rather than continuously processing all audio streams at maximum intensity, the system selectively enhances critical sounds (such as alarms or warnings) while maintaining normal processing for background audio, thus reducing overall processing bandwidth requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous monitoring of ambient sounds through the dedicated second audio channel, ensuring that critical sounds are always detectable. This continuous action allows the device to provide uninterrupted awareness of important ambient noises without requiring intensive processing bursts, as the monitoring function operates continuously at low intensity while only escalating processing when critical sounds are detected.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a system comprises a host computing device and an audio device including at least one speaker and a plurality of microphones, the audio device being wirelessly and communicatively coupled to the host computing device. The host computing device can include one or more processors and one or more machine-readable, non-transitory storage mediums that include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors of the host computing device to perform operations including: receiving user environment data by one or more sensors of the host computing device; determining a characterization profile of a surrounding environment of the user based on the user environment data; and sending the characterization profile to the audio device, the characterization profile configured to cause the audio device to adapt an audio cardioid pattern of the plurality of microphones on the audio device based on the characterization profile.