Systems and methods for positioning a user of a hands-free intercommunication system

Abstract

A hands-free intercom may include a user-tracking sensor, a directional microphone, a directional sound emitter, a display device, and/or a communication interface. The user-tracking sensor may determine a location of a user so the directional microphone can measure vocal emissions by the user and the directional sound emitter can deliver audio to the user. The hands-free intercom may provide privacy to the user. The hands-free intercom may prevent an eavesdropper from hearing the user's vocal emissions, for example, by canceling the vocal emissions at the eavesdropper's ear. The directional sound emitter may deliver out-of-phase sound to cancel the vocal emissions. The hands-free intercom may also, or instead, cancel ambient noise at the user's ear. The hands-free intercom may measure or predict a filtration of the sound to be canceled and compensate for the filtration when canceling the sound.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hands-free intercommunication system for providing privacy to a user, the system comprising:
 a directional microphone configured to measure vocal emissions by the user; and   a directional sound emitter configured to deliver audio to the user by emitting ultrasonic sound waves configured to frequency convert to produce the audio,   wherein the directional sound emitter is further configured to prevent an eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions from the user.   
     
     
         2 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to predict future vocal emissions to be canceled. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to prevent the eavesdropper from hearing the predicted future vocal emissions. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to predict a filtration for the future vocal emissions to be canceled. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to apply the predicted filtration to the predicted vocal emissions and deliver an inverse of the filtered result to the eavesdropper's ear. 
     
     
         13 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to predict the future vocal emissions based on a prediction of a phoneme being uttered by the user. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to predict the future vocal emissions based on stored characteristics of previous phonemes uttered by the user. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to predict the future vocal emissions based on a prediction of a word being uttered by the user. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the directional microphone is configured to measure the vocal emissions, and wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to cancel the measured vocal emissions. 
     
     
         23 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the directional microphone is configured to measure the vocal emissions using electromagnetic radiation. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to compute a filtration between the user's mouth and the eavesdropper's ear based on the measured vocal emissions. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to apply the computed filtration to the measured vocal emissions at the user's mouth and deliver an inverse of the filtered result to the eavesdropper's ear. 
     
     
         28 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to compute a filtration by comparing measured sound at the eavesdropper's ear to sound from the directional sound emitter. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to apply the computed filtration to the sound from the directional sound emitter and deliver an inverse of the filtered result to the eavesdropper's ear. 
     
     
         32 - 40 . (canceled) 
     
     
         41 . A hands-free intercommunication system for increasing communication quality, the system comprising:
 a directional microphone configured to measure vocal emissions by the user;   a directional sound emitter configured to deliver audio to the user by emitting ultrasonic sound waves configured to frequency convert to produce the audio; and   a communication interface configured to communicatively couple the directional microphone and the directional sound emitter to a communication device of a remote entity,   wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to cancel background noise at the user's ear.   
     
     
         42 - 48 . (canceled) 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 41 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to selectively cancel the background noise. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to allow vocal emissions to reach the user. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 50 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to allow vocal emissions directed at the user to reach the user. 
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to allow an alarm to reach the user. 
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the alarm is selected from the group consisting of a smoke alarm, a timer alarm, and an appliance alarm. 
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein the directional sound emitter is configured to allow user indicated sounds. 
     
     
         55 . (canceled) 
     
     
         56 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program code configured to cause a processor to perform a method for providing privacy a user, the method comprising:
 causing a directional microphone to measure vocal emissions by the user;   causing a directional sound emitter to deliver audio to the user by emitting ultrasonic sound waves configured to frequency convert to produce the audio; and   causing the directional sound emitter to prevent an eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions from the user.   
     
     
         57 . (canceled) 
     
     
         58 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 56 , wherein preventing the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions comprises delivering sound waves to the eavesdropper's ear to prevent the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions. 
     
     
         59 - 60 . (canceled) 
     
     
         61 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 58 , wherein the method further comprises causing a tracking sensor to locate the eavesdropper. 
     
     
         62 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 56 , wherein preventing the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions comprises delivering sound waves to the user's mouth to prevent the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions. 
     
     
         63 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 62 , wherein the method further comprises causing the directional sound emitter to reproduce the vocal emissions for an intended recipient near the user. 
     
     
         64 - 86 . (canceled) 
     
     
         87 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 56 , wherein preventing the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions comprises causing the directional sound emitter to deliver out-of-phase sound. 
     
     
         88 - 93 . (canceled) 
     
     
         94 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 56 , wherein preventing the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions comprises causing the directional sound emitter to deliver obfuscating noise. 
     
     
         95 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 56 , wherein preventing the eavesdropper from hearing the vocal emissions comprises causing the directional sound emitter to deliver spoofed vocal emissions. 
     
     
         96 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program code configured to cause a processor to perform a method for increasing communication quality, the method comprising:
 causing a directional microphone to measure vocal emissions by the user;   causing a directional sound emitter to deliver audio to the user by emitting ultrasonic sound waves configured to frequency convert to produce the audio;   communicatively coupling the directional microphone and the directional sound emitter to a communication device of a remote entity; and   causing the directional sound emitter to cancel background noise at the user's ear.   
     
     
         97 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 96 , wherein the method further comprises causing the directional microphone to measure the background noise at the user's ear. 
     
     
         98 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 97 , wherein measuring the background noise comprises subtracting sound previously delivered to the user by the directional sound emitter from measured sound at the user's ear. 
     
     
         99 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 97 , wherein measuring the background noise comprises measuring the background noise at times when no sound is arriving at the user's ear from the directional sound emitter. 
     
     
         100 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 96 , wherein the method further comprises causing the directional microphone to measure the background noise from a point source. 
     
     
         101 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 96 , wherein the method further comprises causing the directional microphone to measure the background noise omnidirectionally. 
     
     
         102 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 41 , wherein canceling background noise comprises adding background canceling sound to the audio delivered to the user. 
     
     
         103 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 96 , wherein the method further comprises causing the directional sound emitter to cancel ambient noise during an in-person conversation. 
     
     
         104 - 110 . (canceled)