| CPC G10L 15/22 (2013.01) [G10L 15/08 (2013.01); G10L 25/21 (2013.01); G10L 25/84 (2013.01); G10L 2015/088 (2013.01); G10L 2015/223 (2013.01)] | 22 Claims |
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1. A signal processing method performed by a programmed processor of a headphone that includes an accelerometer and a microphone, the method comprising:
receiving, while the headphone is being worn by a wearer, 1) an accelerometer signal from the accelerometer in the headphone and 2) a microphone signal from the microphone in the headphone that is arranged to capture sound of an environment in which the wearer is located;
generating a voice activity detection (VAD) signal based on the accelerometer signal;
storing the VAD signal in a buffer;
processing the microphone signal to detect a key-phrase, wherein at least some of the key-phrase is detected within a microphone time interval of the microphone signal;
retrieving a portion of the VAD signal from the buffer, wherein the portion of the VAD signal was generated from a portion of the accelerometer signal that is within the microphone time interval;
determining whether the portion of the VAD signal indicates that the key-phrase is spoken by the wearer of the headphone; and
responsive to determining that the portion of the VAD signal indicates that the key-phrase is spoken by the wearer of the headphone, triggering a virtual personal assistant (VPA),
wherein the accelerometer and the microphone are always active while the headphone is worn by the wearer such that the accelerometer signal and the microphone signal are continuously received.
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