Abstract:
An earpiece includes an earpiece housing, an intelligent control disposed within the ear piece housing, at least one audio input sensor operatively connected to the intelligent control, a transceiver operatively connected to the intelligent control, and a user interface operatively connected to the intelligent control and configured for receiving user input. The intelligent control is configured to receive voice input through the at least one audio input sensor and interpret the voice input to determine a voice command from a set of voice commands.

Description:
PRIORITY STATEMENT 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/244,160, filed on Oct. 20, 2015, and entitled Wearable Earpiece Voice Command Control System and Method, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to wearable devices. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to ear pieces. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Wearable devices, including earpieces may have multiple use case advantages. For example, the user can listen to music, track various biometric parameters, as well as communicate with others via Bluetooth or other short range communications. Earpieces may be controlled in various ways including through manual controls of various types. However, if manual controls of any type are used, issues remain as there are times where the user is neither free to use such gesture based commands nor contact the touch sensitive segments of the device. What is needed are customized voice commands that are responsive to the user, able to be activated or inactivated and are able to be used to supplement the other forms of interaction with the user. 
         [0004]    Therefore, what is needed is an improved wearable device such as an earpiece which provides for receiving and processing voice commands. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Therefore, it is a primary object, feature or advantage of the present invention to improve over the state of the art. 
         [0006]    It is a further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a wearable device that may receive and interpret voice commands. 
         [0007]    It is a still further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a wearable device which may be controlled through multiple user interfaces including a gesture-based user interface and a voice interface. 
         [0008]    Another object, feature, or advantage is to control a variety of functions of an earpiece using voice commands. 
         [0009]    Yet another object, feature, or advantage is to provide for access to various device functions while remaining completely hands-free. 
         [0010]    A still further object, feature, or advantage is to allow for access to functions when accelerometer or gyrometer functions are detecting significant movement such as when performing heavy physical activities. 
         [0011]    Another object, feature, or advantage is to allow for control of various levels of voice control. 
         [0012]    Yet another object, feature, or advantage is to allow for extended levels of voice control to new apps and functions via updates or otherwise. 
         [0013]    A further object, feature, or advantage is to allow for a user to choose to activate or deactivate voice controls. 
         [0014]    A still further object, feature, or advantage is to allow for a user to use voice controls from a wearable device such as an earpiece to link to voice assistants to further extend the range of earpiece voice control capabilities. 
         [0015]    Another object, feature, or advantage is to allow for advanced learning via voice interaction pattern analysis allowing for voice unlocking of various functions. 
         [0016]    Yet another object, feature, or advantage is to allow for keyword bands free activation. 
         [0017]    One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims that follow. No single embodiment need provide each and every object, feature, or advantage. Different embodiments may have different objects, features, or advantages. Therefore, the present invention is not to be limited to or by any objects, features, or advantages stated herein. 
         [0018]    According to one aspect an earpiece includes an earpiece housing, an intelligent control disposed within the ear piece housing, at least one audio input sensor operatively connected to the intelligent control, a transceiver operatively connected to the intelligent control, and a user interface operatively connected to the intelligent control and configured for receiving user input. The intelligent control is configured to receive voice input through the at least one audio input sensor and interpret the voice input to determine a voice command from a set of voice commands. 
         [0019]    According to another aspect, a method for voice control is provided. The method includes providing an earpiece comprising an earpiece housing, an intelligent control disposed within the ear piece housing, at least one audio input sensor operatively connected to the intelligent control, a transceiver operatively connected to the intelligent control, and a user interface operatively connected to the intelligent control and configured for receiving user input. The method further includes receiving voice input through the at least one audio input sensor, interpreting the voice input to determine a voice command from a set of voice commands, and executing the voice command to control the earpiece or a device in operative communication with the earpiece. 
         [0020]    According to another aspect, a method for voice control includes providing an earpiece comprising an earpiece housing, an intelligent control disposed within the ear piece housing, at least one audio input sensor operatively connected to the intelligent control, a transceiver operatively connected to the intelligent control, and a user interface operatively connected to the intelligent control and configured for receiving user input, and wherein the earpiece is configured to perform voice assistant functions. The method further includes receiving voice input through the at least one audio input sensor, interpreting the voice input to determine a voice command from a first set of voice commands, wherein the first set of voice commands is associated with the earpiece. If the voice command is not within the first set of voice commands, the method provides for communicating the voice input to an electronic device in operative communication with the earpiece wherein the electronic device is configured tor voice control. The electronic device may include a voice assistant. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  illustrates a set of ear pieces which are enabled to provide for voice control. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one example of an ear piece. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  illustrates one or more earpieces in communication with a mobile app executing on a mobile device. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  illustrates an example of an earpiece with a voice assistant which may be in operative communication with a voice assistant associated with a mobile device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    The present invention provides for a new and improved wearable device and related methods and systems. Although various types of wearable devices are contemplated, one type of wearable device of particular interest is the ear piece or a set of earpieces which includes two ear pieces, a left ear piece and a right ear piece. The device(s) provide for voice control over functionality of the device itself and linked devices, systems, and/or services. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates one example of a wearable device in the form of a set of earpieces  10  including a left ear piece  12 A and a right earpiece  12 B. Each of the ear pieces  12 A,  12 B has an ear piece housing  14 A,  14 B which may be in the form of a protective shell or casing. A light display area  16 A,  16 B is present on each of the ear pieces  12 A,  12 B. The light display areas  16 A,  16 B each provide for producing light of one or more colors. The left ear piece  12 A has a microphone  32 AA and the right ear piece  12 B has a microphone  32 AB. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a device with a housing  14 . The device may include a gesture based user interface  21  including one or more energy field emitters and one or more energy field detectors. One or more energy field emitters  20  (such as ER LEDs, other type of light emitters, ultrasound emitters, or other types of sound emitters, or other energy field emitters) may be used. The energy field emitters are operatively connected to the intelligent control  30 . It should be understood that interconnecting logic and circuits are not shown. It is to he further understood that the intelligent control shown may include a plurality of different processors or additional circuitry. The intelligent control  30  may also be operatively connected to one or more energy field detectors  24 . The energy field detectors may be light detectors, sound detectors or other types of detectors or receivers. For example, wherein the energy field emitters  20  are IR LEDs, the energy field detectors  24  may be IR receivers. The intelligent control  30  may also be electrically connected to one or more sensors  32  and a transceiver  34  such as a short range transceiver using Bluetooth, UWB, magnetic induction, or other means of communication. The intelligent control  30  may also be operatively connected to one or more speakers  35 . In operation, the intelligent control  30  may be programmed to receive different information using a gesture based user interface including the energy field emitter(s)  20  and the energy field detector(s)  24  based on context or mode of operation of the device. Alternatively, instead of or in addition to a gesture based interface, a user interface may include one or more touch sensors  32 D or other manual inputs. Thus, the ear piece device may have one or more user interfaces in addition to the voice interface. 
         [0028]    Where the device is an earpiece, the sensor(s) may include an inertial sensor  32 B, one or more microphones  32 A, one or more biosensors  32 C, one or more touch sensors  32 D or other manual inputs. The one or more microphones  32 A may allow for air conduction or bone conduction to pickup or capture the voice of the person wearing the device. Where multiple microphones  32 A are present the earpiece or two earpieces working together may perform processing on voice signals from the multiple microphones  32 A in order to provide an improved quality voice signal to use for voice commands. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  illustrates a set of earpieces  10  in operative communication with a software application such as a mobile app executing on a computing device such as a mobile device  60 . The mobile device  60  may also be in communication with a network  68  such as the Internet. Although a mobile device is shown, it is to be understood that any number of computing devices may be used which provide a transceiver to communicate with one or more of the earpieces. Thus, for example, the computing device may be incorporated into an entertainment device such as a television, a vehicle, or any number of other types of devices. The mobile app may be configured to assist in setting up parameters associated with voice control. For example, the mobile app may show the user the preset commands or otherwise assist the user in learning the preset commands. The mobile app may be used to assist the user in defining new commands or new functions. In addition, the mobile app may be used so that a user may select whether they seek to control the set of earpieces  10  exclusively via voice command or want to control the set of earpieces  10  in combination with one or more other user interfaces such as a gesture based user interface and/or a manual user interface including one or more manual inputs. In addition, the user may select to activate or deactivate voice controls. For example, a mountain bike rider might elect to utilize full voice. control over the earpiece devices, due to the frequency of changes in angular acceleration while operating their bike. Such changes could potentially be misinterpreted; choosing this alternative methodology for interaction would alleviate such concerns. Additionally, this would allow the user to maintain both hands on the bicycle&#39;s controls. Consequently, this would allow the user to avoid potentially disastrous spills and injuries. Thus, there are numerous situations where it may be advantageous to provide voice control over other methodologies. However, it is contemplated that a user may select when they want to use voice control alone, when they want to use one or more alternative modalities, or when they may want to use both. 
         [0030]    It should also be apparent that the mobile device  60  or other computing device may have an associated voice command system present. For example, Siri, Cortana, Google Now and Alexa smart assistants may be accessed via the voice commands, allowing still additional hands-free and gesture free functionality. The native control functions may reside on the earpiece, or alternately on the connected device through a Bluetooth or other short range linkage system. Additionally, over time the voice control may learn the nuances of a user&#39;s specific voice so that hands free access to specific or hidden settings can be facilitated through onboard voice analysis. Further additional capabilities can be achieved through customization of the activation commands, such as “Hello Bragi”, “Hey Bragi” or other commands. 
         [0031]    In addition, according to user preferences or otherwise, information associated with a user that may be used to assist in making recommendations or predicting commands may be stored and appropriate algorithms may be employed to assist in improving, the user&#39;s experience. The voice assistant may be a voice-activated intelligent assistant. It is noted that where the voice assistant is a part of the earpiece, a user may developer a closer more personal relationship with the voice assistant than what has been known in the past. Appropriate artificial intelligence may be used to emulate or give the impression of a presence contained within the earpiece so that a user feels as if they are talking to someone (e.g. a “her”) as opposed to something. 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates an example of an earpiece with a voice assistant which may be in operative communication with a voice assistant associated with a mobile device. The earpiece  12 A may have a voice assistant  70  which may be implemented as a set of instructions stored on a memory within the earpiece  12 A. The voice assistant  12 A may be in operative communication with a voice assistant  72  associated with a mobile device  60  either directly or through a mobile app  62  stored and executed on the mobile device  60 . In one example, native voice commands may be made using the earpiece  12 A which interact with the voice assistant  72  of the mobile device  60 . Thus, a first set of commands or a first set of functions may be performed by the earpiece using the voice assistant  70 . These may involve control of the earpiece  12 A or other types of functions or commands. Alternatively, they may involve control of functions associated with or performed by the mobile device  60 . As second set of commands or a second set of functions may be performed by conveying commands to the voice assistant  72 . These commands or functions may relate to controlling of the mobile device  60  or its functionality. It is to be appreciated that interaction between the voice assistant  70  and the voice assistant  72  may allow for the earpiece  12 A to be able to expand its control and commands available to it. Either voice assistant may be used to interpret direct commands regarding device operations, answer questions, receive requests, make personalized recommendations, activate appropriate features of the device or other devices in communication therewith or otherwise provide voice assistant functionality. 
         [0033]    The mobile device may include an operating system executing thereon and its operating system may include the voice assistant or intelligent assistant or else the voice assistant or intelligent assistant may be an application or service otherwise executing on the mobile device. Different examples may include the Sin voice assistant operating on iOS, the Google Now voice assistant operating on Android, and Cortana operating on Microsoft Windows Phone. Similarly, examples of intelligent assistants associated with apps may include Alexa from Amazon and M from Facebook. 
         [0034]    Although as shown in  FIG. 4 , the ear piece  12 A communicates with a mobile device  60 , it is to be understood that the earpiece  12 A may communicate with other types of computing devices including other types of devices which have a voice assistant such as desktop computers, vehicles, televisions, or any number of other type of electronic devices. It is to be further understood that any number of voice related functions may be perfumed. This may include voice control, dictation, and voice authentication such as voice print analysis or other security features. 
         [0035]    Therefore, various methods and systems have been shown and described herein. The present invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments described herein as numerous variations, options, and alternatives are contemplated including variations in the type of device, the sensors used in the device, the types of other devices which interact, the functionalities provided and other variations.