Users of headsets or headphones often choose not to wear their headset or headphones in an in-the-ears or on-the-ears wearing mode at all times. Instead, users may choose to wear the devices in a body worn stowage mode, such as around their neck, over a shoulder, or elsewhere on the body. As the body-worn stowage wearing mode has become more fashionable, headset and headphones designs have evolved accordingly. These headsets and headphones must be designed to be easily worn while not in use and celebrate the headset or headphones form factor rather than hide it, thereby making it desirable for the user to wear the headset or headphones in plain view.
However, in a body worn stowage wearing mode, headset operation has been limited because it is not worn in the traditional in-the-ears or on-the-ears operational mode. For example, in a body worn stowage wearing mode, a headset ringer is not typically sufficiently loud to hear when played through the ear piece speakers since the ear pieces are not on-the-ears or in-the-ears. In contrast, if the ringer volume is set at a higher level so that it is sufficiently loud to be heard when worn on the body, it would then be too loud when worn in-the-ears or on-the-ears.
Listening to multimedia content is a common use of headsets and headphones. Hearing multimedia content accurately often requires that both the left and right channels be heard. This is typically done by wearing ear pieces in both ears. However, for a number of reasons, simultaneous wearing of two ear pieces is not always desirable. For example, it is illegal to do so while driving an automobile. In an office setting, wearing both ear pieces implies the user is unavailable, which may be considered inappropriate. Furthermore, wearing two ear pieces may interfere with the wearer's capacity to hear outside interrupts such as a desk phone ringing. It may also incorrectly imply that the user is not performing his/her job.
One solution in the prior art is simply for the wearer to remove one ear piece. However, this may be problematic in that one channel (left or right) of the content is lost. The loss of one channel may seriously degrade the listening experience where the left and right channel differ, as is the case for stereo signals or other types of processed or multi-channel signals. It would therefore be desirable to allow the user to remove an earpiece under certain circumstances without losing any audio content.
In another situation, a user may be listening to some form of multimedia such as music and need to talk to somebody nearby or need to listen to something happening in the immediate vicinity. Typically, the user removes his/her earpieces. However, the multimedia continues to play unless the user enters a pause command on the media player user interface. Thus, the user either loses his/her place in the media or has to perform a second action to pause playback.
As a result, there is a need for improved methods and apparatuses for headset or headphones operation based on wearing mode.