Abstract:
A volume controlling system and method for regulating the output volume of a headset in order to protect the hearing ability of a user. The system includes a volume sensor/controller for monitoring the volume output of the headset by adjusting the volume to be within a predetermined threshold. A warning indicator indicates to the user or a person monitoring the listening user that the volume is set too high. The method include the steps of comparing the received audio signal to the predetermined volume threshold and adjusting the volume accordingly. The method also includes the steps of notifying that the volume has been set at too high a level by providing a warning signal, such as an audible or visual alarm.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a volume regulating and monitoring system, and in particular, to a system and method of regulating and monitoring volume in a headset by adjusting the volume according to predetermined thresholds and signaling when the predetermined thresholds have been exceeded.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Many children and adolescents experience hearing problems because of listening to music, watching television and movies, and playing with video games and toys that are very loud. Currently, some solutions to this problem are the use of headphones, and in particular, headphones having volume limitation mechanisms. Unfortunately, these solutions still require constant supervision. A volume limiter can also be a useful solution, but may become frustrating to use if the volume is set too low and the user cannot hear the audio, or ineffective if the volume is set too high.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0003]    It is, therefore, an aspect of the present invention to provide a system for controlling a volume output of headphones to prevent harmful sound levels from damaging a user&#39;s hearing.  
           [0004]    It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a monitoring system to monitor the user&#39;s listening habits and track the user&#39;s listening history.  
           [0005]    It is, yet, another aspect of the present invention to provide a warning system, with a display, notifying a person in a supervisory capacity when an output volume of headphones is too high.  
           [0006]    The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved by a system for controlling a volume output by a set of headphones to prevent harmful sound levels from damaging a user&#39;s hearing. The system includes a volume sensor/controller for determining the volume of an audio signal and comparing the volume of the audio signal to a predetermined volume threshold. If the compared volume is outside the volume threshold, the output volume of the headphones is adjusted accordingly. The system also includes a warning indicator that indicates to the user or a person monitoring the user&#39;s listening activity that the volume is set too high. Each incident in which the warning indicator is used is stored in a data base for monitoring the long term listening habits of the user. This system is designed to help protect a user&#39;s hearing.  
           [0007]    In another embodiment, the foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved by a system for controlling a volume output by a set of headphones with a volume sensor controller connected in series between the audio source and the headphones to prevent harmful sound levels from damaging a user&#39;s hearing.  
           [0008]    In, yet, another embodiment, the foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved by a system for controlling a volume output by a set of headphones receiving wireless audio signals from an audio source to prevent harmful sound levels from damaging a user&#39;s hearing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 illustrates a volume regulating and monitoring headset according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the volume sensor/controller as shown in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the volume/frequency sensor as shown in the volume sensor/controller of FIG. 2;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 illustrates a headset according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 illustrates a headset according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown by FIG. 1 includes a headset  10  with speaker earpieces  102 , is equipped with a volume sensor/controller  100  that receives an incoming audio signal from an audio source  106 , such as a stereo, television, radio, microphone, etc. The volume sensor/controller  100  compares the volume of the incoming signal to a predetermined threshold and adjusts the output volume accordingly. The volume sensor/controller  100  will be described herein below in more specific detail with regards to FIG. 2. Also, attached to the headset  10  is a warning display  104 , such as a series of LED&#39;s, an LCD, or other on-screen display (OSD) that light up or display a message to visually warn a person monitoring the headset user that the individual using the headset has the volume set at a level higher than the predetermined threshold. The warning display  104  may also include an audible warning system, such as a buzzer or chiming device, to audibly warn a person monitoring the headset user that the individual using the headset has the volume set at a level higher than the predetermined threshold.  
         [0016]    The headset  10  is connected to an audio source  106  by a cable or wire  108 , and connects to the source by jack  110 . It is also contemplated that the headset  10  can be connected to audio source  106  in a wireless manner, with a transceiver located in earpiece  102  and a transceiver located in audio source  106 .  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the volume sensor/controller  100  as described in FIG. 1. The volume sensor/controller  100  includes a volume/frequency sensor  200  for sensing the volume level of the input audio and represents the volume levels as energy functions from frequencies or as some average energy per frequency band, a comparator  202  for comparing the audio input to a volume threshold, a volume calibrator  204  for setting the volume threshold and volume control mode, an active volume controller  206  for automatically reducing an output volume and a communication module  210  for communicating with a remote device and a PC.  
         [0018]    The first step in using the volume sensor/controller  100  is to set the volume limits, or more specifically the volume threshold. This operation is done utilizing the volume calibrator  204 . The volume calibrator  204  contains different volume settings, and may be done incrementally or in preset steps. The volume calibrator  204  includes a category selector for selecting volume settings suited for different categories of users, and a category data base containing the different categories. Each volume setting has different volume characteristics suited for different users. Some examples of the different types of characteristics include a default category, where the volume is set to a standard level, and an age dependent category, where depending on the user&#39;s age the volume thresholds are determined. For example, a young child may have more sensitive hearing than an older adult. Therefore, the volume settings for a user age 3-5 will be much different than a user age 65 and over.  
         [0019]    Another type of volume setting is by listener type. For example, listener type can be a volume setting that depends on a type or form of hearing loss or other hearing characteristic of the user. Hearing loss can be related to certain frequency bands. For example, some users have hearing loss at low frequencies and some at high frequencies. Each listener type regulates the volume in accordance with the specific type of hearing loss.  
         [0020]    Further, there is a manual controlled setting that allows the user or persons monitoring or caring for the user to set their own volume thresholds. Once a volume threshold has been determined, the mode of the volume control is set to either “automatic” or “manual”. In the manual mode, the user or the person monitoring the user, must adjust the volume to be within the threshold limits. In the automatic mode, the output volume is controlled by the volume sensor/controller  100  automatically.  
         [0021]    During operation of the volume/sensor controller  100 , an incoming audio signal is received by the volume/frequency sensor  200  as illustrated in FIG. 3. The volume/frequency sensor  200  includes a pulse code modulator (PCM)  300 , a fast fourier transformer (FFT)  302 , and a buffer  304 . The volume/frequency sensor  200  receives an incoming audio signal from an audio source  106  and the PCM  300  modulates it in order for the FFT  302  to represent the audio signal as energy functions of frequencies. The signal processing information is then stored in the buffer  304 . The technique for such representation of signals is well described in scientific literature, and other methods of signal processing can also be used as an alternative.  
         [0022]    Once the volume thresholds have been determined and the incoming audio signal has been processed by the volume/frequency sensor  200 , the comparator  202  compares the processed incoming audio signal stored in the buffer  304  with the volume threshold set in the volume calibrator  204 . In the automatic mode, if the incoming audio signal is outside the threshold levels the comparator  202  notifies the active volume controller  206 , the warning system  208 , and the communication module  210 . The active volume controller  206  adjusts the level of the output audio signal accordingly. The warning system  208  receives the signal from the comparator  202  and activates the warning display  104  on the headset  102  to notify the user or the person monitoring the user that the volume is too high. Preferably, in addition to the visual warning display  104 , the communication module  210  includes communication hardware for receiving the signal from the comparator  202  and sending a signal to a remote device, such as a hand held remote control, warning the monitor holding the remote device that the user has the volume set too loud. The indication may be a vibration, a visual indication, such as LED&#39;s, an audio signal, or a combination to alert the monitoring person. Also, in addition to sending a signal to a remote device, the communication module  210  sends a signal to a transceiver located at a PC to indicate to the person monitoring the user on the PC display that the user has the volume set too loud. In an alternate embodiment, this signal can be sent from a remote location via the Internet or other network. Further, the PC will then store the listener&#39;s listening history in a database stored within the PC. In the manual mode, the comparator  202  does not notify the active volume controller  206 , but does notify the warning system  208 , and the communication module  210 . The volume control is to be performed manually, preferably, by using the remote device.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4 illustrates a another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of being fixed to a headset  102 , the volume sensor/control  400  and the warning display  404  are contained in a separate unit  408  allowing the system to work with a regular headset  402 . The regular headset plugs into the output jack  410 , and the audio source  406  plugs into the input jack  411  of the unit  408 . Unit  408  may connect to source  406  through jack  411 , or via a wireless connection.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 illustrates still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a headset  502 , similar to the headset  102  described herein above in FIG. 1, is equipped with a microphone  508 . The microphone  508  acts as the audio source for the headset  502 . The volume sensor/controller  500  and the warning display  504  function as described above. This embodiment of the invention is very useful in noisy situations such as concerts, motor races, and construction zones, in allowing some sound to reach the user under control of the volume sensor/controller  100 .  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the method of operation of an embodiment of the present invention. In step  600 , a user or a person monitoring the user sets the volume thresholds and the volume control mode in the volume calibrator  204 . Next, an incoming audio signal is received and then converted in step  602 . The comparator  202  compares the converted signal with a predetermined threshold in step  604  to determine in step  606  if the signal is greater than the threshold. If it is not, then the process returns to step  602  to receive another signal. If it is, in step  610  a warning signal is generated at the headset to notify the user or the person monitoring the user that the volume is set too high. In step  612 , it is determined whether the volume control has been set to automatic or manual mode. If the volume control mode is set to automatic mode, in step  614 , it is determined whether there is a remote device being used. If yes, in step  616 , a warning signal is sent to the remote device. If not, the process goes directly to step  618 . In step  618 , it is determined whether a PC is being used. If yes, in step  620 , a warning signal is sent to the PC. Also, in step  622  the user&#39;s listening history stored in a database within the PC is updated. If in step  618  it is determined that no PC is being used, the process skips steps  620  and  622 , and goes to step  624  where the output volume is actively reduced accordingly, to be less than or equal to the volume threshold.  
         [0026]    If in step  612 , it is determined that the volume control mode has been set to the manual mode, in step  626 , it is determined whether a remote device is being used. If yes, in step  628 , a warning signal is sent to the remote device and in step  630  the person with the remote device adjusts the volume accordingly. If in step  626  it is determined that no remote device is being used, then the process goes directly to step  632  to determine if a PC is being used. If a PC is being used, in step  634  a warning signal is sent to the PC and in step  636  the user&#39;s listening history is stored in the database. If no PC is being used, the volume is reduced and the process returns to step  602  to perform the operation with a newly received audio signal.  
         [0027]    While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.