Headset Ambient Audio Detection for Hazard and Conversation Awareness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Consumer audio playback devices struggle to provide a quality individual listening experience while allowing for communication and awareness of environmental hazards, as existing solutions either compromise sound isolation or increase volume to dangerous levels, leading to hearing damage and missed alerts.

Innovation Solution

A headphone unit with a processing circuit that adjusts audio gain based on environmental sounds detected by microphones, offering selectable modes for conversation, safety, and environment matching, and incorporating wireless communication for two-way interaction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If headphone elements provide sound isolation to improve listening experience, then environmental sound leakage decreases, but awareness of environmental hazards and conversation capability deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelistening experience qualityVSAvoidenvironmental sound awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the audio processing into different channels: program audio channel and environmental audio channel. The environmental sounds are captured by microphones and processed separately through noise cancellation and selective attenuation, allowing the system to preserve important environmental sounds while maintaining sound isolation for program material.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary processing system between the environmental sounds and the user's ear. This includes noise cancellation circuits and selective attenuation mechanisms that act as mediators to filter and manage environmental sounds, allowing desirable sounds to pass through while blocking undesirable ones.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If volume of program material is increased to overcome environmental noise, then listening experience improves, but hearing damage risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelistening experience qualityVSAvoidhearing damage risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces environmental sound management as an intermediary mechanism that handles the problem of environmental noise interference. Through noise cancellation and selective attenuation, the system reduces the need to increase program material volume, thereby mitigating hearing damage risk while maintaining listening quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses microphones to continuously monitor environmental sounds and provides feedback to the processing circuit. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of program material volume and environmental sound attenuation, allowing the system to maintain optimal listening levels without excessive volume increases.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If noise cancellation is applied to improve listening experience, then environmental noise attenuation improves, but awareness of hazard sounds and conversation capability deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelistening experience qualityVSAvoidhazard sound awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by treating different environmental sounds differently. Through selective attenuation, the system applies noise cancellation to undesirable sounds (e.g., vacuum cleaner noise) while preserving desirable sounds (e.g., hazard alerts, conversation sounds) based on their local characteristics and importance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts noise cancellation and attenuation levels based on real-time environmental conditions. The processing circuit continuously monitors environmental sounds and modifies the degree of noise cancellation and selective attenuation accordingly, allowing the system to adapt to changing situations and preserve important sounds when needed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

Enables a balanced listening experience that maintains sound isolation while allowing awareness of important environmental sounds, reducing the need to increase volume and minimizing hearing damage, while facilitating communication and awareness of hazards.

Implementation Method 1

One or more microphone elements are provided to sense environmental (ambient) sounds and the processing circuit receives a signal from the microphone elements

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAcoustic detection: Sound

Implementation Method 2

The processing circuit alters characteristics of the program in response to detecting the event... the processing circuit adjusts the gain of the program material

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectGain control:

Data Source

PatentUS8804974B1Ambient audio event detection in a personal audio device headset

Publication Date: 2014.08.12 CIRRUS LOGIC INC

AI summary

Ambient audio event detection in a personal audio device headset provides for directive response to external audible events. Depending on the type of event, an alert may be issued, speech may be communicated to another device, program material may be interrupted and/or resumed with or without repositioning, and program material may be modified or selected for compatibility with, or to overcome, the ambient environment indicated by the detected event.