Amazon Patents Noise-Canceling Headphones That Could Automatically Turn Off When It Detects Certain Sound Patterns (thenextweb.com) 82
An anonymous reader shares a report via The Next Web: Noise-canceling headphones are great for tuning out the din around you when you just want to focus on listening to music or enjoy some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, they also mute sounds that you might need to hear -- like someone calling your name. Amazon has a pretty cool idea for solving that problem. It was recently granted a patent for headphones that not only cancel out noise, but also listen to specific sounds or phrases (like 'Hey Ben') and respond by automatically turning off the feature so the user can hear sound from their surroundings. That should make it safer for use in noisy environments where you might actually need to pay attention to the occasional alert, such as a construction site or an industrial facility. In addition, the headphones can also listen for phrases to turn noise canceling back on again, so the user can resume their listening experience hands-free.
Re:If only (Score:4, Funny)
Think Fast, Malkovitch (Score:2)
I prefer just hitting the zoned out person with a coke can thrown from my passing car to get their attention.
Re:If only (Score:4, Interesting)
By the way, there's another damn patent that should not have been granted because nothing new was invented: we already have noise-cancelling headphones as well as stuff to detect certain sounds. Combining them in this way is clever, but not more than that. Worth a cookie, not a patent.
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By the way, there's another damn patent that should not have been granted because nothing new was invented: we already have noise-cancelling headphones as well as stuff to detect certain sounds. Combining them in this way is clever, but not more than that. Worth a cookie, not a patent.
And possibly valuable. In which case, the question becomes, "if all the parts already existed, and there's money to be made from combining them, then why didn't anyone do it already?" The answer is that it may not have been obvious, and/or you don't realize that there's something new needed to make the combination work.
But how? (Score:4, Insightful)
If there is so much noise around you that you need noise cancelling headphones, how are they going to accurately detect these sound patterns?
As an example, my GPS has voice controls. Very handy, except if the radio is playing at even the faintest volume levels the GPS simply can't recognize the activating words 'voice control'. Hell, even with the radio off I sit there like a fool repeating 'Voice control. Voice. Control. Voicecontrol. VOICE CONTROL DAMMIT!' to get it to work.
This seems more like a gimmick than a truly useful piece of hardware.
Re:But how? (Score:4, Interesting)
Fast Fourier transform, dominant-frequency analysis, and so forth.
Imagine detecting sounds approaching, human voice, and other such things, and filtering them in or out. The sound of approaching vehicles gets let through.
Re:But how? (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, if you could just allow that phrase only to pass through in real time, or even with some delay, that would be quite a technology to patent.
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Mod up.
It it doesn't tell you why it deactivated the noise cancelling feature, then you are left with guessing why.
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It could in principle just play the last 1s at moderately increased speed after unmuting.
I should note that I entirely agree with the 'should not be patentable'.
This is a very simple concept that is not worthy of protection. Specific novel implementations of it in principle may be.
But the most obvious core of the invention - using voice recognition, locating people speaking, perhaps using other microphones in a network, maybe even amplifying with gaze at the person, sound filtering et al are all well unders
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If there is so much noise around you that you need noise cancelling headphones, how are they going to accurately detect these sound patterns?
More noise cancelling headphones. Of course.
Re:But how? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a patent. The patent probably just includes a small black box labelled "ambient noise analyzer" in what is otherwise just a standard set of headphones. The related text explains that (not how, never how) the "ambient noise analyzer" will monitor noise and listen for command phrases to enable additional functionality.
Now that this is patented, R&D has 20 years to make it work and sell enough to make profit.
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R&D is important to bring this feature to both Fire Phone users!
Re:But how? (Score:5, Funny)
As an example, my GPS has voice controls. Very handy, except if the radio is playing at even the faintest volume levels the GPS simply can't recognize the activating words 'voice control'. Hell, even with the radio off I sit there like a fool repeating 'Voice control. Voice. Control. Voicecontrol. VOICE CONTROL DAMMIT!' to get it to work.
Oh, it hears you. It's just passive-aggressively ignoring you. I can imagine its internal computer voice quietly muttering to itself, "You're not the boss of me." or screaming into the electronic abyss, (as Cheryl [wikipedia.org] from Archer [wikipedia.org] "You're not my supervisor!"
On the up side, it's good practice for when/if you ever have children.
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Since you mention Archer, would you know where to find subtitles for it?
Don't know if this helps and/or if you've tried it, but I literally just did the following and got bunches of hits: archer subtitles [google.com]
Seems like there are some at subscene.com and tvsubtitles.net
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For decades they sold hearing aids that removed the background noise and focused on the directed noise. The human voice has a set of harmonics that is rather common across people. As well if it is at a particular amplitude you can say this voice is talking to you vs. standard background noise.
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From someone who has no clue, this seems like a novel idea.
However, it is entirely clear to anyone in the field that you can put together things that will work much better than simple voice activation.
For example - picking up 'Hey John' - while looking at you (assuming your name is John) makes it pretty certain someone wants to talk to you, and is not merely talking to their friend next to you.
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It doesn't matter "how". Amazon is not going to produce such headphones or even design them. But when Sennheiser or Bose will, then Amazon will demand their share of profit.
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..or used to make sure advertising gets through (Score:3, Interesting)
Just sayin'.
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Or used as a DoS by people on the bus with you or your annoying children...
Peace and quiet? Not for you!
Why is this in the headphones? (Score:2)
I feel like it'd be a better idea to put this in the devices that are actually playing the audio. Rather than put it in a pair of headphones, build it in as part of Android, iOS, Tizen, FireOS, and whatever else the devices are running these days. That way we can have this awesome safety feature with ANY headphones.
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Plus the headphone company can charge you $200 for your headphones instead of $30.
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Unless you carry your phone/device externally, the frequencies it pickups will be slightly different.
Re:Why is this in the headphones? (Score:4, Insightful)
Because sound and noise is very complex and to cancel it they are a lot of tight variables that needs to be considered. A fraction of an inch could amplify the sound vs cancel it.
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Also less likely to kick off when I'm listening to "Hey Jude"...
Re: Why is this in the headphones? (Score:2, Interesting)
The noise cancelling effect needs to be in the headphones as you need very accurate specs for the headphone drivers, the background noise microphones and the exact distances between them.
Listening to background noise and disabling the noise cancelling could be done by a phone, but then you need a standard protocol for controlling the headphones, and the feature only works when you're using the phone. A lot of people with noise cancelling headphones will make use of them without any audio source attached, as
Non DRM music being played shutting down! (Score:3, Interesting)
Non DRM music being played shutting down!
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Presumably they patented a specific way of achieving their idea, not the idea itself. Headlines need to be short so you can't take them literally to infer details like this.
I've yet to read a recent patent that only covers a way of achieving it. Most patents cover thousands of implementations. I've read software patents that cover billions of ways to achieve an idea. This effectively makes it a patent on the idea itself.
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The problem isn't the patents, but the patent approval process. A lot of stuff that gets a patent should be rejected due to many reasons. From being to general or had already been done.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Peril sensitive headphones! (Score:5, Funny)
Peril sensitive headphones, FTW!
The Joo Janta 200 Super-Audio Peril Sensitive Headphones have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. They work by completely tuning out at the first sign of danger, thus preventing you from hearing anything that might alarm you.
The Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. They work by turning completely dark at the first sign of danger, thus preventing you from seeing anything that might alarm you. This does, however, mean that you see absolutely nothing, including where you're going.
(With apologies to Douglas Adams)
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Construction Use (Score:5, Informative)
IANA.. anything relevant here. I work in construction management (many years prior in IT, security, etc, hence me being here), and often at my desk on the jobsite the grinding, hammering, cutting, you name it gives piercing noise that makes it f'ing near impossible to concentrate. So I've been eager to use noise cancelling.. however there are issues.
The obvious one, pointed out, is possible cancellation of noise you really need to hear instead of ignore, like something collapsing, someone calling you, etc. (especially when walking the site instead of at the desk) In a construction environment, it'd be very hard to programmatically distinguish the good loud noise versus bad loud noise- scaffolding may be collapsing, or it may just be a steel worker cutting an extra toe angle off of a joist that was manufactured incorrectly and that falling to floor. It's probably kind of like if an active shooter scenario happened at a gun range- which gun shot is bad? You can perhaps tell by direction sound was aimed in that case, but standard folks listening will mostly just hear shots until they notice something amiss. (I pray I never experience that.) I suspect the best answer in industrial application would be "partial cancellation," a bit more noise let through than Bose currently lets through, kill plainly regular noises like compressors but let irregular noises like crashes or hammering through.
However, my sister is an audiologist and pointed out something else- there really hasn't been a study of noise cancellation in loud environments, and it's benefit to ear health. While the cancellation is creating opposing waves and all, there's no study on the actual sound pressure that gets to the ear drum and possible effects of that, even if it is in an inaudible range. I can say when sitting at my desk and I turn on cancellation with my Bose QC20i's, it does WONDERS for noises like compressors and such- but I can tell there's a pressure in my ear from the cancellation. So there's still a valid health concern to be investigated before they'd be OSHA approved for use- I'd rather not lose my hearing thinking the cancellation was a good noise reducer when it had negligible health effects. As such, right now OSHA doesn't really approve noise cancellation in any construction environment, just standard NRR rated blocking materials.
Try some high-end phones (Score:4, Informative)
The obvious one, pointed out, is possible cancellation of noise you really need to hear instead of ignore, like something collapsing, someone calling you, etc. (especially when walking the site instead of at the desk)
I have a set of high-end Bose noise-cancelling headphones that I use occasionally.
They're made for airplane pilots, so they to cancel loud noises and noise in certain frequency ranges, but don't cancel the ranges of human speech. Talking while driving is pretty clear - the phones cancel out all the engine and road noise. (Which makes them less useful to me, because I wanted them to cancel *all* noise in the environment - to get some sleep at Burning Man.)
I don't know about construction specifically, but you can still hear all ambient noise through the phones - it's just attenuated.
Not that you should use these in construction, but the cancellation is not that bad or complete.
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I bought a pair of of consumer Bose noise cancelling ones in hopes of getting some quiet time from all my colleagues to work. But they are very poor at blocking voices. Computer cooling, AC, airplane noises when traveling works. But sadly I don't have to remove them to hear what people are saying.
I am guessing that the electronics can't work fast enough to produce a counter noise that aren't some sort of static noise.
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However, my sister is an audiologist and pointed out something else- there really hasn't been a study of noise cancellation in loud environments, and it's benefit to ear health. While the cancellation is creating opposing waves and all, there's no study on the actual sound pressure that gets to the ear drum and possible effects of that, even if it is in an inaudible range.
With all due respect to your sister, active noise cancellation generates out of phase acoustic waves of equal amplitude to the incoming wave, and acoustically, the waves cancel out in the air, before they hit your ear drum. There is no energy left to hit your ear drum, and accordingly, no possible hearing damage (provided the phase is correct, which it is, because even with some temporal slop, they reduce most of the energy. Otherwise, they'd be amplifiers, and you'd know it right away).
More specifically,
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Interesting that OSHA does not approve noise canceling headphones but they do approve "reactive ear protection" which is the same thing without any music throughput.
I use a reactive headset attached to a hard hat. I love the fact that mid range vocal frequencies are passed through with other frequencies cancelled out.
Listen to music... on a construction site? (Score:2)
Aren't we getting a bit silly here? Maybe those people should leave their hard hats at home too, so they don't mess up their hair
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Proper situational awareness on a construction site does not permit "peace and quiet" either, unless you 're in the trailer taking your coffee break, and even then you probably should be conscious of what is happening outside unless you want to share the same fate of those propane tanks that are about to explode.
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Harcourt Fenton Mudd, is that you?
Should Work The Opposite Way (Score:4, Interesting)
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You can get a decent pair of them for $30 or so. I have a pair that I wear at the shooting range. They are outstanding. The only downside is that if it's a windy day it can get pretty annoying with the wind noise in your ears. (more expensive pairs probably have solved this, but I'm cheap.)
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Those have been on the market since the 1970s as "reactive hearing protection". The price is down from $300.00 for high end shooter's muffs in the 70s to the $9.95 reactive ear plugs I bought last year.
More than that ... (Score:2)
This could change everything, if it simply filled in its own content instead of unmuting. Agreement with my bizarre political opinions would be universal, that cab {buy Crest} driver would be yelling compliments concerning my driving (and parentage), and the homeless people yelling at their imaginary friends would {buy Crest now!} be shouting the current news and {buy Crest immediately!} weather. Hard to see the harm in that ...
I understand it's a patent (Score:2)
But I don't see the benefit over a simple button.
"Noise cancelling" basically sucks. (Score:2)
I've tried expensive noise cancelling headphones and found them pretty useless. They didn't filter out things like conversations at all, just made them tinny-sounding. Still just as distracting. What I find does work is IEMs with triple flange earpieces. They effectively become earplugs with headphones in them. My $50 headphones with those are massively better than the $300+ "noise cancelling" ones I tried.
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IEM or some good old fashion closed-back headphones seem to block out unwanted sound for me better than most noise cancelling headphones. Getting IEMs that fit well can take a little trial and error to find, especially for people who have a narrower entryway to their ear canal. For people with an average sized ear canal, the PU foam plugs work very well and are more comfortable for me than the triple flange (really just personal preference). I got the PU foam ones as an aftermarket option, and stuck them on
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You are asking the tech to do things it is not designed for. Noise cancelling headphones were never designed to filter out intermittent sounds like a conversation. Try wearing them on an airplane flight to cut out the engine noise. Or, wear them while using a power tool so you can hear your music over the noise of grinding, etc. They work great for cutting out constant droning background noise. BTW, the Sony Fontopia line has better specs and performance at a low middle price range than the expensive
Wow (Score:2)
No major improvement on their one-click patent (Score:1)
And then of course some will complain that they missed something important or had an accident because of that
Oops (Score:2)
Posting to undo bad moderation. My apologies.
This is pretty much the opposite (Score:2)
I remember when people were talking to him, he'd pointedly remove his hearing aids and look the other way.
He didn't give a damn, but he was the only one in the house the kids and the dogs would listen to.
All the better to hear you with, my dear! (Score:2)
Assuming this will be an intelligent device that can be trained by the user and upgraded by the manufacturer, then it will be an online device. And as an online device that can hear, is anyone concerned that someone might be listening in addition to the user?
Seems to be a stealth opportunity. The Chinese manufacturer will insert code to relay your most intimate moments to the Beijing authorities. If you fit the profile you will be invited to foment revolt and mayhem in America. God forbid you should spank y
What's the point? (Score:2)
Maybe different noise cancellation.. (Score:2)
I've had a pair of Audio Technica noise cancelling headphones for a while. They're great for getting rid of constant background noise, like on planes, but they don't cancel out talking very much. In fact, I find it easier to understand people while wearing them because it gets rid of the other noise. Demonstrated it to a flight attendant once when she insisted I take them off for the safety lecture (which I practically know by heart anyway..).
Unless I'm playing music loudly, in addition to the noise canc