Wireless earpiece with walkie-talkie functionality

• US 10,205,814 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2017
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Original Assignee: Bragi GmbH
• Inventors: Boesen, Peter Vincent, Steiner, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Shiue, Dong-Chang
• Application Number:
  US15/802,605
• Publication Number:
  US 20180124225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3866 carried on the head
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones

Abstract

A method of audio messaging between users of earpiece wearables includes connecting an earpiece wearable associated with a first user with an earpiece wearable associated with a second user and sending and receiving audio messages between the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user, wherein the sending of the audio messages is activated by head movement sensed with an inertial sensor of the earpiece wearable performing the sending. The method further includes maintaining a record of the audio messages stored on a machine readable memory.

Claims

1. A method of audio messaging between users of earpiece wearables, the method comprising:

connecting an earpiece wearable associated with a first user with an earpiece wearable associated with a second user wherein at least one of the earpiece wearable of the first user comprises a first earpiece housing configured to fit inside the ear of the first user and the earpiece wearable of the second user comprises a second earpiece housing configured to fit inside the ear of the second user;

sending and receiving audio messages between the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user, wherein the sending of the audio messages is activated by head movement sensed with an inertial sensor of the earpiece wearable performing the sending;

after the sending and receiving of the audio messages, maintaining a record of the audio messages stored on a machine-readable memory of at least one of the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising further connecting the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user with an earpiece wearable associated with a third user.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising connecting the earpiece wearable associated with the first user with a mobile device associated with the first user, the mobile device having a display, and presenting a visual display on the mobile display listing one or more users for audio messaging, the one or more users for audio messaging including the second user.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the one or more users are located proximate to the first user.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the second user and the first user are within a group and wherein the listing of the one or more users for audio messaging comprises listing one or more groups.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising sending a request from the first user to the second user for audio messaging and receiving an acceptance of the request from the second user to the first user.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising receiving a head movement from the second user indicative of the acceptance of the request using an inertial sensor of the earpiece wearable of the second user.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising receiving a gesture from the second user indicative of the acceptance of the request using a gestural interface of the earpiece wearable of the second user.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the earpiece wearable associated with the first user earpiece processes audio messages from the earpiece wearable associated with the second user in order to provide 3D sound representation of the audio messages from the earpiece wearable associated with the second user.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the earpiece wearable associated with the first user earpiece processes audio messages from the earpiece wearable associated with the second user in order to provide 3D sound representation of the audio messages from the earpiece wearable associated with the second user based on relative location of the second user to the first user.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising connecting the earpiece wearable associated with the first user with a mobile device associated with the first user, the mobile device having a display, and presenting a visual display on the mobile display including a map showing the relative location of the second user to the first user.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing a speech to text conversion of the audio messages to generate a chat log between the users of the earpiece wearables.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising synchronizing the chat log with additional content.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the additional content comprises imagery.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the additional content comprises data collected by the earpiece wearable contemporaneously with the audio messaging.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein a processor within at least one of the earpiece wearables performs the speech to text conversion of the audio messages.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the earpiece wearable comprises a left earpiece and a right earpiece, each of the left earpiece and the right earpiece having at least one microphone and at least one speaker.

18. A method of audio messaging between users of in ear earpiece wearables, the method comprising:

connecting an earpiece wearable associated with a first user and configured to fit into an ear of the first user with an earpiece wearable associated with a second user configured to fit into an ear of the second user;

sending and receiving audio messages between the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user, wherein the sending of the audio messages is activated by a head gesture sensed by an inertial sensor of the earpiece wearable performing the sending;

after the sending and receiving of the audio messages, maintaining a record of the audio messages stored on a machine-readable memory of at least one of the earpiece wearable associated with the first user and the earpiece wearable associated with the second user.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the gesture is a hand movement sensed by a gestural interface of the earpiece wearable performing the sending.

20. A method of audio messaging between users of in ear earpiece wearables, the method comprising:

connecting a first earpiece wearable associated with a first user with a second earpiece wearable associated with a second user by establishing a wireless connection between transceivers of the earpiece wearables;

sensing a head gesture by the first user with an inertial sensor of the first earpiece wearable;

interpreting by a processor of the first earpiece wearable the head gesture by the first user to activate communications between the first earpiece wearable and the second earpiece wearable;

sensing audio at a microphone of the first earpiece wearable;

processing the audio at the processor of the first earpiece to form an audio message;

communicating the audio message to a wireless transceiver at the first earpiece wearable for transmitting to the second earpiece wearable;

storing the audio message in a memory of the first earpiece wearable;

receiving an incoming audio message at a wireless transceiver of the first earpiece wearable;

transducing the incoming message at a speaker of the first earpiece wearable; and

storing the incoming audio message in the memory of the first earpiece wearable.