Methods and Apparatus to Assist Listeners in Distinguishing Between Electronically Generated Binaural Sound and Physical Environment Sound

A method comprising:

• enabling a listener to distinguish between electronically generated binaural sound and physical environment sound during a telephone call with a person by:
• playing, with a wearable electronic device worn by the listener and during the telephone call, an audio alert that signifies that the electronically generated binaural sound is a voice of the person to assist the listener to distinguish between the voice of the person and the physical environment sound;
• and
• repeating, with the wearable electronic device worn by the listener, the audio alert during the telephone call to remind the listener that the electronically generated binaural sound is the voice of the person and not the physical environment sound.

A method comprising:

• displaying, with a display of a wearable electronic device worn by a listener during a telephone call between the listener and a user, an image that represents the user;
• playing, with the wearable electronic device worn by the listener during the telephone call, a voice of the user as binaural sound that externally localizes at least three feet away from a head of the listener;
• and
• enabling the listener to distinguish between the voice of the user that is the binaural sound during the telephone call and a voice emanating from a person in a physical environment where the listener is located by:
• displaying, with the display of the wearable electronic device worn by the listener during the telephone call, a visual alert that activates when the person in the physical environment speaks during the telephone call to enable the listener to distinguish between the voice of the user and the voice emanating from the person in the physical environment where the listener is located.

A method executed by one or more electronic devices in a computer system to visually indicate to a first user when a second user talks to the first user during a telephone call between the first user and the second user, the method comprising:

• displaying, with a display of a wearable electronic device worn by the first user during the telephone call between the first user and the second user, an image that represents the second user in an augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) environment;
• processing, with a processor during the telephone call, a voice of the second user so the voice of the second user externally localizes as binaural sound to the first user at the image that represents the second user in the AR or VR environment;
• and
• visually indicating to the first user, with the display of the wearable electronic device worn by the first user, when the second user talks to the first user during the telephone call by activating a light in the AR or VR environment when the second user talks to the first user during the telephone call and deactivating the light in the AR or VR environment when the second user does not talking to the first user during the telephone call.