Alerting users to events

A set of headphones comprising:

• a pair of cups, each housing a speaker to be positioned over an ear of a user;
• a microphone;
• a processor;
• an actuator to move a member of at least one of the cups to uncover at least a portion of an ear of the user to expose the user to ambient sound;
• the processor to analyze ambient sounds external to the headphones that are received by the microphone and compare those ambient sounds to relevant sounds;
• and
• the processor to selectively activate the actuator to, based on a priority level assigned to a type of activity in which the user is engaged with the headphones, uncover at least a portion of the ear of the user to expose the user to ambient sound in response to determining that the ambient sounds match the relevant sounds.

A method comprising:

• activating, via a user control, a training mode of headphones in which a processor operates a microphone of the headphones to record relevant sounds occurring when the training mode is activated;
• analyzing, via the processor, ambient sounds external to the headphones that are received by the microphone and comparing those ambient sounds to the recorded relevant sounds;
• and
• selectively activating, via the processor, an actuator to move a member of at least one cup of the headphones to uncover at least a portion of an ear of a user to expose the user to ambient sound in response to determining that the ambient sounds match the relevant sounds.