US-20260129362-A1 - TECHNIQUES FOR SPECTRUM-BASED INTELLIGENT VOLUME CONTROL AND SYSTEMS AND DEVICES OF USE THEREOF

US20260129362A1US 20260129362 A1US20260129362 A1US 20260129362A1US-20260129362-A1

Abstract

A method for spectrum-based volume control of a head-wearable device is described. The method occurs at a head-wearable device with one or more microphones and one or more speakers while worn by a user. The method includes, obtaining an audio input, captured at the one or more microphones, of an ambient noise around the user. The method further includes determining a respective input audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio input. The method further includes obtaining an audio output, the audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the audio input. The method further includes causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted based on the respective input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio input to create an adjusted audio output.

Inventors

Syavosh ZADISSA
Pejman Dehghani
Lindsey Kishline
RICHARD JUSZKIEWICZ
Christopher Evans
Simon Porter
Sean Allyn Coffin
Joshua Hrisko

Assignees

META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251105

Claims (20)

1 . A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium including executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: while a head-wearable device, including one or more microphones and one or more speakers, is worn by a user: obtain an audio input, captured at the one or more microphones, of an ambient environmental noise around the user; determine a respective input audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; obtain an audio output, the audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; cause each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted based on the respective input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio input to create an adjusted audio output; and cause the adjusted audio output to be presented to the user at the one or more speakers.
2 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to: before causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted, determine a respective output audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio output, wherein: causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on the respective output audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio output to create the adjusted audio output.
3 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted includes one or more of: increasing a volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output; and decreasing the volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output.
4 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on an output type of the audio output.
5 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on a power consumption required to adjust each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output.
6 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on a signal-to-noise ratio of the audio output.
7 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on one or more of: one or more distortion characteristics of the one or more speakers; and one or more excursion characteristics of the one or more speakers.
8 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output is adjusted such that the adjusted audio output is intelligible to the user over the ambient environmental noise.
9 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output is adjusted such that the adjusted audio output cannot be heard by other persons around the user.
10 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to: while the head-wearable device is worn by the user: obtain another audio input, captured at the one or more microphones, of another ambient environmental noise around the user; determine another respective input audio level for each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the other audio input; obtain another audio output, the other audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the other audio input; cause each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the other audio output to be adjusted based on the respective other input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the other audio input to create another adjusted audio output; and cause the other adjusted audio output to be presented to the user at the one or more speakers.
11 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to: while the head-wearable device is worn by the user: obtain a third audio input, captured at the one or more microphones, of a third ambient environmental noise around the user; determine a third respective input audio level for each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the third audio input; obtain a third audio output, the third audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the third audio input; forgo causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the third audio output to be adjusted based on the respective third input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the third audio input; and cause the third audio output to be presented to the user at the one or more speakers.
12 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the head-wearable device is a pair of smart glasses including two temple arms and the one or more speakers are located at one or both of the two temple arms.
13 . A head-wearable device including one or more microphones, one or more speakers, and one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: while the head-wearable device is worn by a user: obtain an audio input, captured at the one or more microphones, of an ambient environmental noise around the user; determine a respective input audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; obtain an audio output, the audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; cause each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted based on the respective input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio input to create an adjusted audio output; and cause the adjusted audio output to be presented to the user at the one or more speakers.
14 . The head-wearable device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to: before causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted, determine a respective output audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio output, wherein: causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted is further based on the respective output audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio output to create the adjusted audio output.
15 . The head-wearable device of claim 13 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted includes one or more of: increasing a volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output; and decreasing the volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output.
16 . The head-wearable device of claim 13 , wherein each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output is adjusted such that the adjusted audio output is intelligible to the user over the ambient environmental noise.
17 . A method comprising: while a head-wearable device, including one or more microphones and one or more speakers, is worn by a user: capturing an audio input at the one or more microphones, the audio input including an ambient environmental noise around the user; determining a respective input audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; receiving an audio output, the audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the audio input; adjusting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output based on the respective input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio input to create an adjusted audio output; and presenting the adjusted audio output to the user at the one or more speakers.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising: before adjusting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output, determining a respective output audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio output, wherein: adjusting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output is further based on the respective output audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio output to create the adjusted audio output.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted includes one or more of: increasing a volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output; and decreasing the volume of at least one of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output.
20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output is adjusted such that the adjusted audio output is intelligible to the user over the ambient environmental noise.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/716,475, filed Nov. 5, 2024, entitled “Intelligent Volume Control,” which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD This relates generally relates to consumer electronics, and more particularly, to an intelligent volume control feature for smart glasses and mixed reality programs for integration into an audio feature set. BACKGROUND Smart glasses and extended-reality devices, such as augmented-reality and virtual-reality devices, are becoming increasingly popular, providing users with a hands-free and immersive experience. However, one of the major challenges with these open-ear devices is managing audio playback level. Such devices are often worn in public settings where the amount of background/ambient noise is constantly changing, requiring users to frequently adjust volume levels so that the playback audio is intelligible. Additionally, if the playback volume is too, other persons around users may be able to hear the playback audio which may be an annoyance to the other persons and/or a privacy concern to the users. Traditional methods of controlling volume and playback leakage (e.g., such as manual user control) are often inadequate, leading to poor user experience and potential privacy concerns. As such, there is a need to address one or more of the above-identified challenges. A brief summary of solutions to the issues noted above are described below. SUMMARY One example of a technique for spectrum-based intelligent volume control of a head-wearable device is described herein. The head-wearable device includes one or more microphones, one or more speakers, one or more processors and one or more programs, where the one or more programs are stored in memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs including instructions for performing operations while the head-wearable device is worn by a user. The operations include obtaining an audio, captured at the one or more microphones, of an ambient environmental noise around the user. The operations further include determining a respective input audio level for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands of the audio input (e.g., via one or more analysis filters a noise estimator). The operations further include obtaining an audio output, the audio output having a plurality of frequency bands corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands of the audio input (e.g., parsed by one or more detection filters). The operations further include causing each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the audio output to be adjusted (e.g., via one or more dynamic filters) based on the respective input audio level of the corresponding frequency band of the audio input to create an adjusted audio output (e.g., as determined by one or more target gain calculators). The operations further include causing the adjusted audio output to be presented to the user at the one or more speakers. Instructions that cause performance of the methods and operations described herein can be stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be included on a single electronic device or spread across multiple electronic devices of a system (computing system). A non-exhaustive of list of electronic devices that can either alone or in combination (e.g., a system) perform the method and operations described herein include an extended-reality (XR) headset/glasses (e.g., a mixed-reality (MR) headset or a pair of augmented-reality (AR) glasses as two examples), a wrist-wearable device, an intermediary processing device, a smart textile-based garment, etc. For instance, the instructions can be stored on a pair of AR glasses or can be stored on a combination of a pair of AR glasses and an associated input device (e.g., a wrist-wearable device) such that instructions for causing detection of input operations can be performed at the input device and instructions for causing changes to a displayed user interface in response to those input operations can be performed at the pair of AR glasses. The devices and systems described herein can be configured to be used in conjunction with methods and operations for providing an XR experience. The methods and operations for providing an XR experience can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The features and advantages described in the specification are not necessarily all inclusive and, in particular, certain additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes. Having summarized the above example aspects, a brief description of the drawings will now be presented. BRIEF