BACKGROUND

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is often used in ear phones and other electronic devices to cancel the noise surrounding a user. For example, users often wear headphones equipped with ANC on airplanes to drown out noise from the jet engines, as well as remove sounds from nearby passengers. Active noise cancellation typically operates by listening to external sounds, and then generating a noise cancellation signal that is 180 degrees out of phase with the actual background noise. When the ANC signal and the external sounds are combined, the external sounds are muted or at least greatly muffled.

In typical ANC applications, users will turn on the ANC function, and leave it on until they are done wearing the headset. For example, if a user is mountain biking or road biking, the user may wear ANC head phones or ear buds that allow the user to listen to music, while having outside sounds muted entirely or greatly reduced. In such an example, the user would normally typically leave the ANC feature running for the duration of the bike ride. During this ride, however, the user may miss some sounds that are important for the user to hear such as a car horn or train whistle.

SUMMARY

As will be described in greater detail below, the instant disclosure describes modifying active noise cancellation based on environmental triggers. In cases where certain external noises should reach the user, the embodiments herein may modify active noise cancellation to allow those external sounds through to reach the user. It should be noted that throughout this document, the terms “noise cancellation,” “active noise cancellation,” or “sound cancellation” may each refer to methods of reducing any type of audible noise or sound.

In one example, a computer-implemented method for modifying active noise cancellation based on environmental triggers may include applying, via a sound reproduction system, noise cancellation that reduces an amplitude of various sound signals. The method may further include identifying, among the sound signals, an external sound whose amplitude is to be reduced by active noise cancellation. The method may then include analyzing the identified external sound to determine whether the identified external sound is to be made audible to a user and, upon determining that the external sound is to be made audible to the user, the method may include modifying the active noise cancellation so that the identified external sound is made audible to the user.

In some examples, modifying the active noise cancelling signal includes increasing audibility of the identified external sound. Increasing audibility of the identified external sound may include compressing the modified active noise cancelling signal, so that the modified active noise cancelling signal is played back in a shortened timeframe. Additionally or alternatively, increasing the audibility of the identified external sound may include increasing volume along a specified frequency band.

In some examples, the identified external sound may include various words, or a specific word or phrase. In some examples, the method may further include detecting which direction the identified external sound originated from and presenting the identified external sound to the user as coming from the detected direction. In some examples, the active noise cancelling signal may be further modified to present subsequently occurring audio from the detected direction.

In some examples, policies may be applied when determining that the external sound is to be made audible to the user. In some examples, the identified external sound may be ranked according to level of severity. In some examples, the active noise cancelling signal may be modified upon determining that the identified external sound has a minimum threshold level of severity.

In some examples, the method for modifying active noise cancellation based on environmental triggers may further include receiving an indication that an event has occurred within a specified distance of the user and determining that the event is pertinent to the user. Then, based on the determination that the event is pertinent to the user, the active noise cancelling signal may be modified to allow the user to hear external sounds coming from the site of the event. In some examples, microphones configured to listen to the external sounds may be directionally oriented toward the event.

In some examples, the method may further include determining that another electronic device within a specified distance of the system has detected an external sound that is pertinent to the user. The method may then include determining a current position of the other electronic device, and physically or digitally orienting (i.e., beamforming) microphones configured to listen to the external sounds toward the determined position of the electronic device.

In some examples, modifying the active noise cancelling signal may include continuing to apply active noise cancelling to external sounds received from multiple locations, while disabling active noise cancelling for external sounds received from a specified location. In some examples, modifying the active noise cancelling signal may include continuing to apply active noise cancelling to external sounds received from a specific person, while disabling active noise cancelling for external sounds received from other persons.

In some examples, modifying the active noise cancelling signal may include disabling active noise cancelling for specific words detected in the external sounds, while continuing to apply active noise cancelling to other words. For instance, a listening user may be wearing an augmented reality (AR) headset and an external user may say “barge in” and the external user's next phrase may be transmitted to the listening user while subsequent phrases from the external user are noise cancelled. In some examples, modifying the active noise cancelling signal may include temporarily pausing active noise cancelling, and resuming active noise cancelling after a specified amount of time. In some examples, the sound reproduction system may further include a microphone for playing back the modified active noise cancelling signal to the user.

In addition, a corresponding system for modifying active noise cancellation based on environmental triggers may include several modules stored in memory, including a sound reproduction system configured to apply noise cancellation that reduces an amplitude of various noise signals. The system may also include an external sound identifying module that identifies, among the noise signals, an external sound whose amplitude is to be reduced by the noise cancellation. A sound analyzer may analyze the identified external sound to determine whether the identified external sound is to be made audible to a user and, upon determining that the external sound is to be made audible to the user, an ANC modification module may modify the noise cancellation so that the identified external sound is made audible to the user.

In some examples, the above-described method may be encoded as computer-readable instructions on a computer-readable medium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, may cause the computing device to apply, via a sound reproduction system, noise cancellation that reduces an amplitude of noise signals, identify, among the noise signals, an external sound whose amplitude is to be reduced by the noise cancellation, analyze the identified external sound to determine whether the identified external sound is to be made audible to a user and, upon determining that the external sound is to be made audible to the user, modify the noise cancellation such that the identified external sound is made audible to the user.

Features from any of the above-mentioned embodiments may be used in combination with one another in accordance with the general principles described herein. These and other embodiments, features, and advantages will be more fully understood upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

