Method and system for message alert and delivery using an earpiece

• US 8,326,635 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2008
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Staton Techiya, LLC
• Original Assignee: Personics Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Usher, John, Goldstein, Steven, Boillot, Marc, Hoshizaki, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): PULLIAS, JESSE SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US12/343,277
• Publication Number:
  US 20090240497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: 704/274, 455/412.2
• US Class Current: 704/274
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/10 Earpieces; Attachments therefor ; Earphones; Monophonic headphones H04R1/28 takes precedence; stereophonic headphones H04R5/033

Abstract

Earpieces and methods for an earpiece to manage a delivery of a message are provided. A method can include receiving a notice that a message is available at a communication device, parsing the notice for header information that identifies at least a portion of the message, and requesting a subsequent delivery of at least a portion of the message from the communication device if at least one keyword in the header information is in an acceptance list.

Claims

1. An earpiece, comprising:

an Ambient Sound Microphone (ASM) configured to capture ambient sound;

an Ear Canal Microphone (ECM) configured to capture internal sound in an ear canal;

at least one Ear Canal Receiver (ECR) configured to deliver at least one of the ambient sound from the ASM or audio content to the ear canal;

a transceiver coupled to a paired communication device, the transceiver configured to receive a notice from the paired communication device indicating a message on the paired communication device; and

a processor operatively coupled to the transceiver, the ASM, the ECR, and the ECM, the processor configured to monitor a background noise level proximate to the earpiece,

wherein, the processor parses a header in the notice and when at least one keyword in the header matches a predetermined keyword in an acceptance list, the processor is configured to;

deliver an audio notification identifying a presence of the message via the ECR;

manage an audible delivery of at least a portion of the message to the ear canal via the ECR when an indication is received from a user of the earpiece responsive to the delivered audio notification; and

record a response to the message using the ECM of the earpiece to form an ECM signal where the ECM signal has a reduced ambient noise relative to the background noise level, and send the recorded response to one or more people,

wherein the processor delays delivery of the audio notification until the background noise level falls below a predetermined threshold.

2. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor by way of a text-to-speech converter converts a text portion of the message to speech for the audible delivery to the ear canal.

3. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the audio notification is a unique sound pattern identifying the notice as at least one among a family, a friend, a business, or an emergency.

4. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor monitors a sound exposure level inside the ear canal, and adjusts the audible delivery to within a listening sound pressure level range based on the sound exposure level.

5. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the paired communication device is a cell phone that parses header information from the message and constructs the notice using at least in part the header information.

6. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor reduces a volume of the ambient sound from the ASM to a predetermined level for allowing the message to be heard.

7. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor adjusts a sealing section of the earpiece to modify sound attenuation in the ear canal in response to the background noise level.

8. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the recorded response is an audio format including at least one of a way audio file or a mp3 audio file, where the processor prompts the user of the earpiece to begin recording the response to the message, where the processor stores the response in a memory for sending the response immediately or at a predetermined time.

9. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor, responsive to the audible delivery of the at least the portion of the message, by way of voice recognition receives a user spoken command and in response records the response.

10. The earpiece of claim 1, wherein the processor by way of a speech-to-text converter converts the recorded response to the message for delivery to at least one of the one or more people.

11. A method for an earpiece to manage a delivery of a message, the method comprising:

receiving a notice at the earpiece indicating that a message is available at a communication device;

parsing the notice for header information that identifies at least a portion of the message;

determining whether at least one keyword in the header information matches a predetermined keyword in an acceptance list;

monitoring a background noise level proximate to the earpiece;

delivering an audio notification identifying a presence of the message via the earpiece when the at least one keyword matches the predetermined keyword;

audibly delivering via the earpiece at least a portion of the message from the communication device when an indication is received from a user of the earpiece responsive to the delivered audio notification;

recording a response to the message using an Ear Canal Microphone (ECM) of the earpiece to form an ECM signal where the ECM signal has a reduced ambient noise relative to the background noise level;

storing the response in a memory; and

sending the recorded response to one or more people,

wherein the delivering of the audio notification is delayed until the monitored background noise level falls below a predetermined threshold.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the audio notification is a unique sound pattern identifying the notice as at least one among a family, a friend, a business, or an emergency.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the notice identifies a type of the message as a text message, an audio message, or a video message.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the notice identifies a name, an address, or a priority of the message.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the message includes a text message and the step of audibly delivering includes performing a text to speech conversion on the text message to produce speech and delivering the speech to the earpiece.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the indication from the user includes a spoken voice command within a predetermined amount of time after receiving the audio notification.

17. The method of claim 11, further including a step of converting the recorded response from speech to text.