# US 12,190,898 B2 · Audio modification using interconnected electronic devices > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,190,898 B2 - Document ID: US12190898B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/458,841 - Filed: 2023-08-30 - Published: 2023-12-21 - Granted: 2025-01-07 - Earliest claimed: 2020-09-22 - Assignees: Apple Inc. - Applicants: Apple Inc. - Inventors: Kathleen A. Bergeron; Edward Siahaan; Jeffrey J. Terlizzi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12190898B2 ## CPC - G10L 21/0208: Noise filtering - G10L 21/0216: characterised by the method used for estimating noise - G10L 2021/02087: {the noise being separate speech, e.g. cocktail party} - G10L 2021/02165: {Two microphones, one receiving mainly the noise signal and the other one mainly the speech signal} - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract Systems and methods are provided for reducing unwanted noise in an electronic audio signal, wherein a computing device having a microphone is configured to receive signals from a sensor on an external device such as a camera, second microphone, or movement sensor. The signals from the sensor are used to identify sound information or characteristics of sounds made by a source of noise, and the audio signal of the microphone is modified to reduce unwanted sounds based on that sound information or based on sounds identified a second audio signal obtained by the second microphone, thereby improving teleconference and video conference audio quality and removing distracting noises from transmitted audio output. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for reducing unwanted noise in an electronic audio signal, the system comprising: a computing device comprising a first microphone; a memory; a processor; and a head-mountable device in electronic communication with the computing device, the head-mountable device positioned external to and separate from the computing device, and comprising a second microphone; wherein the processor is configured to: detect a target noise within a first audio signal from the second microphone of the head-mountable device; detect the target noise within a second audio signal from the first microphone of the computing device; and modify at least one of the first audio signal or the second audio signal to reduce a representation of the target noise. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the head-mountable device comprises a sensor including an imaging device, and wherein detecting the target noise includes detecting an object in an image sensed by the imaging device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the head-mountable device comprises a sensor configured to detect a position or a movement of the head-mountable device, and wherein detecting production of the target noise includes detecting a change in position of the head-mountable device or a movement of the head-mountable device via the sensor. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the head-mountable device comprises a movement sensor configured to detect movement indicative of a user speaking. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: the computing device includes a keyboard; the target noise is a sound originating from the keyboard; the representation of the target noise is a recording of the target noise; and modifying the second audio signal includes at least partially canceling out the recording of the target noise in the second audio signal. ### Claim 6 A method of managing sounds while teleconferencing, the method comprising: recording a first audio signal and detecting a target noise within the first audio signal via a first microphone disposed with a wearable electronic device; recording a second audio signal and detecting the target noise within the second audio signal via a second microphone disposed with a computing device; detecting a motion via a movement sensor of a head-mountable device; and reducing a representation of the target noise based on the detected motion. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising determining whether a user is facing a source computer based on the detected motion. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising identifying a movement pattern via the movement sensor, the movement pattern corresponding to movements of a user's mouth. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising detecting an unwanted sound based at least in part on the detected motion. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising identifying a physical act based on the detected motion, and wherein the unwanted sound includes a noise produced by a person performing the physical act. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising detecting a position of a user relative to a source computer via the movement sensor, wherein a wanted sound is identified and amplified based on the position of the user relative to the source computer. ### Claim 12 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein detecting the motion via the movement sensor of the head-mountable device comprises detecting a motion of a user's jaw. ### Claim 13 A computing system, comprising: a head-mountable device including an imaging sensor; a microphone; and a processor in electronic communication with the imaging sensor of the head-mountable device and with the microphone, the processor configured to: receive an audio signal produced by the microphone; obtain an image via the imaging sensor of the head-mountable device; and modify the audio signal based on the image. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to determine an orientation of the head-mountable device relative to a computing device, based on the image. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, wherein modifying the audio signal includes at least partially canceling a target noise in the audio signal. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, wherein modifying the audio signal includes isolating a representation of a target noise in the audio signal. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to identify sound information associated with the image. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, a distance between a user and a computing device is determined based on the image. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The computing system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to associate the image with a detected sound. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The computing system of claim 19, wherein associating the image with the detected sound comprises detecting a noise-making action in the image.