Hearing assistance

• US 9,615,179 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2015
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Greenberger, Hal
• Primary Examiner(s): BERNARDI, BRENDA C
• Application Number:
  US14/835,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20170064463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 587 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1075 Mountings of transducers in earphones or headphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/43 Signal processing in hearing aids to enhance the speech intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/61 Aspects relating to mechanical or electronic switches or control elements, e.g. functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/30 Monitoring or testing of hearing aids, e.g. functioning, settings, battery power
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/405 by combining a plurality of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/407 Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40

Abstract

A system and a method of indicating the reception of voice in a hearing assistance system that is constructed and arranged to assist a user to better hear the voice of another person. The hearing assistance system includes a detector that is capable of determining whether or not speech has been received by the hearing assistance system. In response to detecting the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system, the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system is visually indicated.

Claims

1. A method of indicating the reception of voice in a hearing assistance system that is constructed and arranged to assist a user to better hear the voice of another person, the method comprising:

using a detector that is capable of determining whether or not speech has been received by the hearing assistance system to detect the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system; and

in response to detecting the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system, visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system, wherein visually indicating comprises;

visually indicating, with a first visual indicator that is capable of being seen by the person whose voice was detected, the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a first active sound reception angle; and

visually indicating, with a second visual indicator that is capable of being seen by the person whose voice was detected, the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a second active sound reception angle that is different than the first active sound reception angle.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein visually indicating comprises changing a state of a light source.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein changing a state of a light source comprises turning the light source on.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein changing a state of a light source comprises changing the brightness of the light source.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the brightness of the light source is increased when the voice of another person is detected.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the hearing assistance system further comprises a directional microphone array with an output, and wherein the detector comprises a voice activity detector that is operably coupled to the microphone array output.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system comprises not visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the first visual indicator of the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first active sound reception angle.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the first active sound reception angle encompasses no more than 180 degrees.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first active sound reception angle encompasses no more than 120 degrees.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system further comprises not visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first or second active sound reception angles.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first and second visual indicators comprise separate light sources.

13. A hearing assistance system that assists a user to better hear the voice of another person, comprising:

a detector that is capable of determining whether or not the voice of another person has been received by the hearing assistance system; and

a visual indicator system, responsive to the detector, that indicates the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system, wherein the visual indicator system comprises;

a first visual indicator that is capable of being seen by the person whose voice was detected, when the voice is received within a first active sound reception angle; and

a second visual indicator that is capable of being seen by the person whose voice was detected, when the voice is received within a second active sound reception angle that is different than the first active sound reception angle.

14. The hearing assistance system of claim 13 wherein the visual indicator comprises a light source.

15. The hearing assistance system of claim 14 wherein a state of the light source is changed to indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system.

16. The hearing assistance system of claim 14 wherein the light source is turned on to indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system.

17. The hearing assistance system of claim 14 wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode.

18. The hearing assistance system of claim 14 wherein the brightness of the light source is increased to indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system.

19. The hearing assistance system of claim 13 further comprising a directional microphone array with an output, and wherein the detector comprises a voice activity detector that is operably coupled to the microphone array output.

20. The hearing assistance system of claim 19 wherein the visual indicator system does not visually indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the first visual indicator when the voice is received outside of the first active sound reception angle.

21. The hearing assistance system of claim 20 wherein the first active sound reception angle encompasses no more than 180 degrees.

22. The hearing assistance system of claim 21 wherein the first active sound reception angle encompasses no more than 120 degrees.

23. The hearing assistance system of claim 20 wherein the visual indicator system does not visually indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first or second active sound reception angles.

24. The hearing assistance system of claim 23 wherein the first and second visual indicators comprise separate light sources.

25. A method of indicating the reception of voice in a hearing assistance system that is constructed and arranged to assist a user to better hear the voice of another person, the method comprising:

using a detector that is capable of determining whether or not speech has been received by the hearing assistance system to detect the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system;

in response to detecting the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system, visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system;

wherein the hearing assistance system further comprises a directional microphone array with an output, and wherein the detector comprises a voice activity detector that is operably coupled to the microphone array output;

wherein visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system comprises visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a first active sound reception angle, but not visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first active sound reception angle;

wherein visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system further comprises also visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a second active sound reception angle that is different than the first active sound reception angle, but not visually indicating the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first or second active sound reception angles; and

wherein visually indicating is accomplished with a light source and there is a separate light source for each active sound reception angle.

26. A hearing assistance system that assists a user to better hear the voice of another person, comprising:

a detector that is capable of determining whether or not the voice of another person has been received by the hearing assistance system;

a visual indicator, responsive to the detector, that indicates the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system;

a directional microphone array with an output, and wherein the detector comprises a voice activity detector that is operably coupled to the microphone array output;

wherein the visual indicator visually indicates the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a first active sound reception angle, but does not visually indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first active sound reception angle;

wherein the visual indicator also visually indicates the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received within a second active sound reception angle that is different than the first active sound reception angle, but does not visually indicate the reception of the voice of another person by the hearing assistance system when the voice is received outside of the first or second active sound reception angles; and

wherein the visual indicator comprises a separate light source for each active sound reception angle.