The problem is, these devices don’t differentiate between noises, so the headphones will cancel unwanted noise, like general street rumblings, along with important things like people calling your name.
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Noise-canceling headphones can be great for blocking out noise to be more productive or hear music in crowded areas, but there are certainly risks associated with shutting off people’s senses. Alexa is used the company’s Echo device and she was created with the help of Benjamin Scott and Mark Rafn. Amazon has won the patent of a new noise cancelling headset.
Amazon’s headphones would be able to fill a similar gap.
A diagram in the patent application filed on July 25, 2014 shows 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.
The Next Web reports that the headphones will also listen for phrases to automatically turn the noise cancellation back on, as well. Yet judging by the language in the patent, the company had a pretty good idea of the technology that could fit in something as small as a pair of headphones.
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. Amazon already has done some extensive work in voice-recognition hardware and software through it’s Amazon Echo platform, making it possible that this latest patent is building off those existing technologies.
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There’s not a set release date, or even a guarantee that Amazon will make the product.
