Personal audio assistant device and method

• US 10,236,011 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2014
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Staton Techiya, LLC
• Original Assignee: Staton Techiya, LLC
• Inventors: Goldstein, Steven Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCarty, Taunya
• Application Number:
  US14/148,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20140122092A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/60 of audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/00 Speech or voice signal processing techniques to produce another audible or non-audible signal, e.g. visual or tactile, in order to modify its quality or its intelligibility G10L19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/06 Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids G10L15/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/48 specially adapted for particular use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/05 specially adapted for use on head, throat or breast
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2471 Configurable and interactive telephone terminals with subscriber controlled features modifications, e.g. with ADSI capability [Analog Display Services Interface] systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers H04M3/42; administration or customization of services H04M3/42136; by downloading data to substation equipment H04M3/42178
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/00 Circuits for transducers , loudspeakers or microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A computer readable medium containing instructions for controlling an electronic device causes one or more processors to perform operations including receiving an ambient signal, receiving a desired signal, combining the ambient signal with the desired signal to generate a mixed signal, and initiating control of audio content or at least one operation of the electronic device in response to at least one voice command detected in the mixed signal. In another aspect, the one more processors apply at least one among active noise reduction, echo cancellation, or signal cancellation to the ambient signal using an environmentally customized filter to provide a filtered signal and initiate control of audio content or at least one operation of an electronic device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a non-transitory memory storage containing instructions;

a processor that executes instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising;

receiving an ambient signal from a microphone, wherein the ambient signal comprises audio from an ambient environment;

receiving a desired signal, wherein the desired signal comprises a voice audio;

applying an environmentally customized signal conditioning to the ambient signal, wherein the environmentally customized signal conditioning is based on a user registration;

combining the conditioned ambient signal with the desired signal to generate a mixed signal; and

;

initiating control of audio content of the electronic device in response to at least one voice command detected in the mixed signal.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the voice audio comprises speech.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise initiating control of audio content and initiating control of operations of the electronic device in response to a voice command received by a voice controlled user interface.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a wearable device.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises eye-wear.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the ambient signal is received via a first microphone and a second microphone.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise applying echo cancellation to the ambient signal based on the user registration.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise discriminating between the ambient signal and the desired signal;

and

further comprising a user interaction element configured to turn the electronic device on or activate an audio play command on the electronic device.

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory operatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory containing instructions for controlling an electronic device, the execution of the instructions by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving an ambient signal via a first microphone;

detecting a desired signal in the ambient signal, wherein the desired signal comprises speech;

applying an environmentally customized signal conditioning to the ambient signal to provide a filtered signal, wherein the environmentally customized signal conditioning is based on a user registration combining the conditioned ambient signal with the desired signal to generate a mixed signal; and

initiating control of audio content of the electronic device in response to a voice command detected from the filtered signal.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise initiating control of an operation of the electronic device in response to the voice command detected from the filtered signal.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a wearable electronic device and the operations further comprise initiating control of operations of the wearable electronic device in response to a voice command received by a voice controlled user interface and selectively activating an audio play command in response to activation of a user interaction element.