Method and apparatus for scoring shooting events using hearing protection devices

• US 10,343,044 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2015
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Starkey Laboratories Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Starkey Laboratories Incorporated
• Inventors: Howes, Christopher Larry
• Primary Examiner(s): Thai, Xuan M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Blaise, Malina D.
• Application Number:
  US14/802,546
• Publication Number:
  US 20160076858A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,453 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/06 Protective devices for the ears
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/06 Indicating or scoring devices for games or players , or for other sports activities
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 19/01 Counting means indicating the number of shots fired
• CPC Class Codes: F41J 5/06 Acoustic hit-indicating systems, i.e. detecting of shock waves F41J5/056 takes precedence

Abstract

A system for scoring a shooting event for a shooter includes a pair of hearing protection devices and a portable device. The hearing protection devices each include an electronic circuit that detects a gunshot and produces detection information characterizing the gunshot as detected. The difference between the detection information produced by the hearing protection devices worn in or over different ears of the shooter allows the portable devices to identify the gunshot as being fired by the shooter and subsequently prompt the shooter to give a voice command indicating the result of the gunshot to the portable device for the scoring without manual entry.

Claims

1. A system for scoring a shooting event for a shooter having a first ear and a second ear, the system comprising:

a pair of hearing protection devices configured to protect hearing of the shooter from injurious sounds, the pair of hearing protection devices including;

a first ear device configured to be worn in or over the first ear, to detect gunshots, and to produce first detection information characterizing each of the gunshots as detected by the first ear device; and

a second ear device configured to be worn in or over the second ear, to detect the gunshots, and to produce second detection information characterizing each of the gunshots as detected by the second ear device; and

a portable device configured to be communicatively coupled to the pair of hearing protection devices, detect an acoustic signature using the first detection information and the second detection information, and identify each gunshot fired by the shooter from the gunshots detected by the first and second ear devices using the detected acoustic signature and a template signature, the template signature allowing for the identification of each gunshot fired by the shooter based on lengths of sound paths through which a sound of the gunshot being identified travels to the first ear device and the second ear device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable device is further configured to receive a voice command from the shooter following the identification of the each gunshot fired by the shooter and score the each gunshot according to the voice command.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the shooting scoring module comprises a signature identifier configured to identify a time delay as the acoustic signature, the time delay being a difference between a time of the detection of the each of the gunshots by the first ear device and a time of the detection of the each of the gunshots by the second ear device.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the shooting scoring module comprises a signature identifier configured to identify a sound level difference as the acoustic signature, the sound level difference being a difference between a sound level of the each of the gunshots as detected by the first ear device and a sound level of the each of the gunshots as detected by the second ear device.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit comprises a score counter configured to produce a scoring tone to be delivered to the shooter using the pair of hearing protective devices in response to the identification of the each gunshot fired by the shooter, time a detection period starting upon the delivery of the scoring tone, and detect the voice command from the shooter during the detection period.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processing circuit comprises a template generator configured to prompt the shooter to fire one or more test gunshots, and produce the template signature using the first detection information and the second detection information associated with the one or more test gunshots.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable device is configured to be communicatively coupled to the pair of hearing protection devices via a wireless link.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the pair of hearing protective devices comprises a pair of earbuds, a pair of earmuffs, or a pair of earplugs.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the portable device comprises a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or a personal digital assistance device.

10. A method for scoring a shooting event for a shooter wearing a pair of hearing protection devices configured to protect hearing of the shooter from injurious sounds, the method comprising:

receiving detection information charactering each gunshot of gunshots detected by the pair of hearing protective devices;

detecting an acoustic signature from the received detection information, the acoustic signature including one or more parameters allowing for identification of each gunshot fired by the shooter from the gunshots detected by the pair of hearing protective devices;

determining whether the detected acoustic signature for the each gunshot matches a template signature; and

identifying the each gunshot as being fired by the shooter in response to the determination that the detected acoustic signature for the each gunshot matches the template signature,

wherein the template signature allows for the identification of the each gunshot as being fired by the shooter based on lengths of sound paths each being a path through which a sound of the each gunshot travels to one device of the pair of hearing protective devices.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

prompting the shooter to give a voice command; and

counting a score based on the voice command.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a time delay between the each gunshot as detected by a first ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices and the each gunshot as detected by a second ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a sound level difference between a sound level of the each gunshot as detected by a first ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices and a sound level of the each gunshot as detected by a second ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a time delay and the sound level difference, the time delay being a difference between a time of the each gunshot as detected by a first ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices and a time of the each gunshot as detected by a second ear device of the pair of hearing protection devices.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein counting the score comprises counting at least two of a number of hits, a number of misses, and a number of total shots.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining the template signature for the shooting event using a calibration process including:

prompting the shooter to fire one or more test gunshots;

receiving the detection information charactering the one or more test gunshots; and

producing the template signature using the detection information charactering the one or more test gunshots.

17. A portable device for scoring a shooting event for a shooter wearing a pair of hearing protection devices including first and second ear devices configured to protect hearing of the shooter from injurious sounds, the portable device comprising:

a communication circuit configured to receive detection information regarding gunshots detected by the pair of hearing protection devices from the pair of hearing protection devices via a wireless link, the detection information including or derived from first detection information characterizing each of gunshots as detected by the first ear device and second detection information characterizing the each of the gunshots as detected by the second ear device; and

a processing circuit configured to identify an acoustic signature using the detection information and identify each gunshot fired by the shooter from the gunshots detected by the pair of hearing protection devices in response to the identified acoustic signature matching a template signature, the template signature allowing for the identification of each gunshot fired b the shooter based on lengths of sound paths through which a sound of the gunshot being identified travels to the first and second ear devices.

18. The portable device of claim 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to produce a scoring tone to be delivered to the shooter using the pair of hearing protection devices in response to the identification of the each gunshot fired by the shooter, time a detection period, detect a response command from the shooter during the detection period, and count a score based on the response command.

19. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to identify a time delay as the acoustic signature, the time delay being a difference between a time of the detection of the each of the gunshots by the first ear device and a time of the detection of the each of the gunshots by the second ear device.

20. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to identify a sound level difference as the acoustic signature, the sound level difference being a difference between a sound level of the each of the gunshots as detected by the first ear device and a sound level of the each of the gunshots as detected by the second ear device.

21. The portable device of claim 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to prompt the shooter to fire one or more test gunshots and produce the template signature using the detection information associated with the one or more gunshots.