Repurposable microphone and speaker

An apparatus comprising:

• a device configured to be coupled to audio earphones;
• a microphone detector of the device configured to:
• determine that at least one of a first earpiece of the audio earphones or a second earpiece of the audio earphones is to be configured to provide a microphone capability, in response to an event associated with the microphone capability;
• and
• provide an indication that the at least one of the first earpiece of the audio earphones or the second earpiece of the audio earphones is to be repurposed as a microphone that includes the microphone capability;
• and
• a repurpose module of the device communicatively coupled to the microphone detector and configured to repurpose the at least one of the first earpiece of the audio earphones or the second earpiece of the audio earphones as the microphone based on the indication, wherein the microphone detector includes:
• a high-pass filter configured to:
• detect a first input signal from the second earpiece of the audio earphones, wherein the second earpiece of the audio earphones is repurposed as a first test microphone;
• provide a first high-pass signal based at least, in part, on the first input signal;
• detect a second input signal from the first earpiece of the audio earphones, wherein the first earpiece of the audio earphones is repurposed as a second test microphone;
• and
• provide a second high-pass signal based at least, in part, on the second input signal;
• a squarer circuit coupled to the high-pass filter, and configured to:
• detect the first high-pass signal from the high-pass filter;
• provide a first measurement value of the first high-pass signal;
• detect the second high-pass signal from the high-pass filter;
• and
• provide a second measurement value of the second high-pass signal;
• a buffer coupled to the squarer circuit, and configured to store at least one of the first measurement value or the second measurement value;
• a level comparator coupled to the buffer and to the squarer circuit, and configured to:
• compare the first measurement value and the second measurement value;
• and
• provide a comparison signal based on the comparison of the first measurement value and the second measurement value;
• and
• a repurpose controller coupled to the level comparator, and configured to:
• detect the comparison signal;
• and
• based on the comparison signal, provide the indication that the at least one of the first earpiece of the audio earphones and the second earpiece of the audio earphones is to be repurposed as the microphone.

A machine readable non-transitory medium that stores executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a device to repurpose at least one of a first earpiece of earphones or a second earpiece of the earphones by performance of or control of performance of operations to:

• monitor sensor data associated with the at least one of the first earpiece of the earphones or the second earpiece of the earphones;
• detect a repurpose event based on the monitored sensor data;
• determine that the at least one of a first earpiece of the earphones or a second earpiece of the earphones is to be repurposed as a microphone, based on the detected repurpose event;
• and
• repurpose the at least one of the first earpiece of the earphones or the second earpiece of the earphones as a microphone based at least, in part, on the determination, wherein the determination includes operations to:
• repurpose the second earpiece of the earphones as a first test microphone;
• measure a first high-frequency level from the second earpiece of the earphones repurposed as the first test microphone to provide a first measurement value of the first high-frequency level;
• repurpose the first earpiece of the earphones as a second test microphone;
• measure a second high-frequency level from the first earpiece of the earphones repurposed as the second test microphone to provide a second measurement value of the second high-frequency level;
• compare the first measurement value with the second measurement value;
• and
• repurpose the first earpiece of the earphones as the microphone in response to the comparison being indicative that the second high-frequency level is greater than the first high-frequency level, or repurpose the second earpiece of the earphones as the microphone in response to the comparison being indicative that the first high-frequency level is greater than the second high-frequency level.