Patent ID: 8611555

Claim:
A robot head comprising: binaural artificial ears, each binaural artificial ear comprising; an auricle-shaped structure; and a microphone in a concha region defined by the auricle-shaped structure, the concha region including pinnae elements to introduce asymmetry to first sound originating from a first source above each binaural artificial ear and second sound originating from a second source below each binaural artificial ear, the microphone configured to receive the first sound or the second sound and generate an electrical signal corresponding to the first sound or the second sound, the electrical signal processed to estimate a location of the first source or the second source based on auditory localization cues in the first sound or the second sound, wherein the auditory localization cues comprise interaural level differences (ILD) separated based on the asymmetry introduced by the pinnae elements into the electrical signal, wherein the electrical signal resulting from sound reflections from an asymmetrical shape of the binaural artificial ear is generated at the microphone, wherein the electrical signal is dependent on azimuth and elevation of the first source or the second source, and wherein the asymmetry is configured to increase dependency of the interaural level differences (ILD) with respect to the azimuth and the elevation of the first source or the second source; an actuator configured to move the binaural artificial ears in at least one degree of freedom; and an upper portion of the head above the binaural artificial ears, the upper portion of the head comprising an acoustically dampening surface.