US Patent 8452020 Adjustment of acoustic properties based on proximity detection

One or more acoustic transducers of a device may be adjusted based on automatic detection of device proximity to the user. In a mobile telephone, when the user is using the receiver and holding the telephone against his/her ear, if the telephone detects that the user has moved the telephone further from his/her ear, the telephone will raise the receiver volume. Similarly, if the user is using the speaker, the telephone will adjust the speaker volume as user distance from the telephone changes. In another embodiment the telephone may fade between the receiver and the speaker. Volume is not the only acoustic property that could be adjusted according to user proximity. Frequency response is another property that could be adjusted, such as using appropriate electronic filtering, or by turning on another transducer that is not otherwise being used.