Amazon Got Smarter Noise Cancelling Headphones Patent

Still, as noise-canceling headphones continue to flood the streets, it’s comforting to know that someone out there is looking out for our safety. The technology appears to be similar to that found in Amazon’s Echo speaker, which listens in the background until prompted to answer a question, reports Fact Magazine.

Noise-canceling headphones are one of the greatest technological wonders of the modern world, letting you shut out all of the annoying people, background noise, blaring sirens, and annoying people.

Amazon might be coming out with a noise-canceling headphone that automatically turns off when someone yells your name.

The patent was originally filed back in 2014, the same year the Echo went on the market. The company’s digital assistant Alexa already listens to the sounds around her.

The way this would work is that the headphones will have an array of microphones built into the ear pads. Anyone who uses particularly soundproof headphones has experienced the dance of a friend or co-worker desperately trying to get your attention while you blissfully ignore them from the depths of your musical Fortress of Solitude.

That would make sense, given the inventors listed on the patent are two Amazon software engineers.

Amazon has an idea for high-tech selective hearing.

Amazon’s patent, approved last month, could lead to the development of noise-canceling headphones that could be overridden and muted by certain noises or keywords. Just as Echo’s error rate has been declining with increased use, the makers want to hone the smart headphones by analyzing user reactions.For example, if the user turns “noise-cancellation back on almost immediately after suspension”, it “may indicate a false-positive detection of a predetermined keyword” and the device will need to be improved upon.