Patent ID: 7707035

Claim:
A sound processing system for tactical military operations comprising: a) a headset including housings with form factors for insulating user ears from direct exposure to ambient sound, b) at least one microphone for receiving sounds around a user, c) a microphone for receiving user speech, d) a processing unit for processing sound from said microphones, the processing unit providing sound filtering and amplification, sound analysis and speech recognition for analyzing speech and non-speech sounds and taking programmed actions based on the analysis, recognizing language of speech for purposes of one-way and autonomous two-way voice-to-voice translation, word spotting to detect and identify elements of communication, and non-speech recognition and identification, e) speakers in the housings to play for a user sound produced by the processing units, f) at least one speaker on the outside of the headset to play sound for other persons including translated phrases in a first language of speech as part of one-way and two-way voice-to-voice communication, wherein the first language of speech is the same language of speech received by a microphone that receives sounds around a user and recognized by the processing unit, g) a light sensor for providing to the processing unit frequency and intensity of any impinging light, h) a variably positionable headset mounted camera, the processing unit providing instructions to the camera in response to voice commands from the user, and i) interconnections for connecting the user headset with other systems outside of the headset, wherein the other systems include target designation systems, communication networks, and radio transmitters.