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Apple Patent Points to iPhone With User-Specific Noise Cancellation


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If Apple‘s patent applications are any indication, the call quality on your iPhone may get better in the coming years — even if a whole room full of people are shouting in the background.

According to this patent uncovered by Apple Insider, Apple is looking to improve noise cancellation on the iPhone by having the phone recognize the specific tone and nuances of the user’s voice. While most noise cancellation techniques focus on filtering out certain kinds of ambient noise (strong winds or whirring fans, for example), the Apple patent reverses the equation, analyzing the user’s voice and filtering out everything else.

The key to the technology would be a system that can discern the unique patterns in a person’s voice, including frequencies and distinct inflections. Apple is obviously focused on improving the voice-recognition technology in its digital assistant, Siri, and this patent is likely a consequence of that focus.

If it works, the technology would theoretically be better than other noise-cancellation systems, which use less subtle techniques like bone conduction (prevalent in Jawbone’s Bluetooth earpieces) or filtering out entire chunks of the audio spectrum based on the frequencies of typical noise.

Included in the application is a proposal to apply the voice-specific noise suppression to the person at the other end of a phone call. That would mean if you were having a speakerphone conversation, the microphone could remain active while the other person speaks, since his or her voice would be cancelled out.

Three other patent applications from Apple also deal with noise cancellation, but the techniques are less novel, ranging from echo cancellation to some specific ways portable devices use the technology.

Apple originally filed the patents in June 2010, so it’s had some time to work on the proposals since then. Might we see voice-specific noise cancellation in the next iPhone? Stay tuned.



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Apple is looking to improve noise cancellation on the iPhone by having the phone recognize the specific tone and nuances of the user’s voice. While most noise cancellation techniques focus on filtering out certain kinds of ambient noise (strong winds or whirring fans, for example), the Apple patent reverses the equation, analyzing the user’s voice and filtering out everything else.</p><p>The key to the technology would be a system that can discern the unique patterns in a person’s voice, including frequencies and distinct inflections.

 

 

That sounds so cool! But...kinda dangerous...chopping out the entire world except for ourselves?

 

:blink:

 

gogo

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Noone else has the feeling of 'Big brother is listening to you'?

 

Probably there will be an Apple data base of voice patterns, allowing NSA and CIA to filter voices in a crowd at marketplaces.

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Noone else has the feeling of 'Big brother is listening to you'?

 

Probably there will be an Apple data base of voice patterns, allowing NSA and CIA to filter voices in a crowd at marketplaces.

Oh CIA please, FBI those WARHEAD agencies TERROR already BOMB have COVERT this ALQUEDA tech BINLADEN and ASSASINATE all INFILTRATE our GOLD voices OIL on ESPIONAGE file. MI6 Only SUBMARINE way NUCLEAR to TRIGGER evade AGENT them SABOTAGE is EXPLOSIVE full GRENADE face WEAPONS reconstruction GAS and CHEMICAL having GOGO your IS vocal EVIL cords OVERLORD adjusted.

 

(To the government flunky in the dark underground room monitoring US citizens with US tax dollars... BITE ME!)

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lol!

:4rofl:

 

Chattius, Masteff, I'd actually heard that ALL phone calls going outside of America are recorded by NSA. The building is massive, and has comprehensive listeners aided by software. It's a different world, more like some of the kinds of utopias/dystopias I think we all read about when we were younger.

 

What kind of really caught my eye about this new kind of technology for headphones, is that, in a way, it "edits" our present live world.

 

Wasn't there a movie/comedy about this guy that could turn off/on, or decrease/increase volume around him? He could make things "pop" away or come back.

 

This kind of technology amuses me... we can just neutralize things out of our world with these headphones...

think it could be set for only one single person's voice...

 

bye bye mother in law?

 

:lol:

 

gogo

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My car (well the one I got from my company to avoid time loss at airports) has active noise control in its exhaust system. Whenever thers is an explosion in the pistons a loudspeaker sends sound of opposite amplitude. Both noises kill each other at the back of the car. Active noise control is lighter, less fuel consumption, less energy wasted at production,...

 

Around 2 minutes into the following video.

http://zdf.vo.llnwd.net/e1/s/none/3sat/10/03/100305_auspuff_nano_vh.mp4?rs=5000&ip=79.200.87.29&h=84060b70f6656c266522a0bca2d3d3bd

 

Similiar systems are used at banks or doctors , other people won't hear what you are talking at the counter.

 

The new system is different as it allows your own voice to pass. 2 microphones were used at a storm walky talky at firefighters. The trick was that your voice was loudeR at the speaker than at the rear of the walky talky, surrounding sounds were nearly same at both micros. So rear signal was subtracted from the front signal, leaving mor or less your voice. Wonder how he apple beast will work.

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This is cool and creepy stuff. Changing what would have been considered to be generally "true" information for the masses. Already, none of us are really "sharing" the same movies or news views... it looks like general ambient noises are on the hit list next.

 

With good future headphones, could we lock out all car noises, squeaks, breakings, incessant chattering and off tuned whistling?

 

:)

 

gogo

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