Method for controlling and/or configuring a user-specific hearing system via a communication network

• US 10,187,733 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2013
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Inventors: Schneider, Philipp, El Guindi, Nadim
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Yogeshkumar
• Application Number:
  US14/914,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20160212552A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,974 Days
• Field of Search: 381 77, 381314, 381123, 381312, 381 60, 700 94
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/02 Methods for producing synthetic speech; Speech synthesisers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/55 Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/07 Use of position data from wide-area or local-area positioning systems in hearing devices, e.g. program or information selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/505 using digital signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/55 using an external connection, either wireless or wired
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/558 Remote control, e.g. of amplification, frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/004 for microphones H04R29/007 takes precedence

Abstract

A method for controlling and/or configuring a user-specific hearing system using a computing and/or communication device. The hearing system includes at least one hearing device customizable according to the individual hearing ability and/or preferences of a user of the hearing system. The method includes connecting the hearing system to a server via a network, connecting the computing and/or communication device to the server via the network, providing by the server a hearing system control and/or configuration service tailored to the user-specific hearing system to the computing and/or communication device, determining and/or selecting at the computing and/or communication device control data and/or configuration data using the hearing system control and/or configuration service, sending the control and/or configuration data from the computing and/or communication device to the hearing system, and adjusting the hearing system based on control and/or configuration data received at the hearing system.

Claims

1. A method for controlling and/or configuring a user-specific hearing system (3) by means of a computing and/or communication device (2), the hearing system (3) comprising at least one hearing device (4) customisable according to the individual hearing ability and/or preferences of a user (6) of the hearing system (3), the method comprising the steps of:

connecting the hearing system (3) to a server (1) via a network (7) by sending a hearing system/device identifier from the hearing system (3) to the server;

connecting the computing and/or communication device (2) to the server (1) via the network (7) by sending a computing and/or communication device identifier from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the server (1);

providing by the server (1) to the computing and/or communication device (2) a hearing system control and/or configuration service tailored to the user-specific hearing system (3);

determining and/or selecting at the computing and/or communication device (2) control data and/or configuration data using the hearing system control and/or configuration service;

sending the control and/or configuration data from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the hearing system (3);

adjusting the hearing system (3) based on control and/or configuration data received at the hearing system (3),

wherein the hearing system control and/or configuration service provides a user interface individually customized according to capabilities of the user'"'"'s hearing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control data and/or configuration data is sent from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the hearing system (3) via the server (1).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the control data and/or configuration data is received at the server (1) from the computing and/or communication device (2), processed by the server (1), and processed control data and/or configuration data is sent to the hearing system (3), and wherein the control and/or configuration data received at the hearing system (3) is the processed control data and/or configuration data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hearing system control and/or configuration service provides information, for instance address and/or routing information, enabling to directly send the control data and/or configuration data from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the hearing system (3).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the hearing system control and/or configuration service is tailored to a user-specific customisation of the hearing system (3) customisable according to the individual hearing ability and/or preferences of a user (6) of the hearing system (3).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user-specific customisation is stored in a database (8) accessible by the server (1).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a hearing system control and/or configuration service comprises at least one of the following:

sending data and/or a script, such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS or Adobe Flash, to a client, in particular a thin client, such as a web browser, being executed by the computing and/or communication device (2) as a web application;

providing a web link or web address such as a uniform resource locator to the computing and/or communication device (2), the web link allowing to access a web server that makes available program code, in particular a native mobile application, more particularly a mobile client application;

downloading program code, in particular a native mobile application, more particularly a mobile client application, from the server (1) to the computing and/or communication device (2), installing the program code in the computing and/or communication device (2), and executing the program code by the computing and/or communication device (2);

executing program code, referred to as a cloud application, by the server (1), and providing an interface to the cloud application via a web browser being executed by the computing and/or communication device (2), wherein in particular only data entry is performed via the computing and/or communication device (2) and data processing and storage is performed by the server (1).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data sent to the web browser of the computing and/or communication device (2) and/or the downloaded program code is customised dependent on the user-specific hearing system (3), in particular dependent on the user-specific customisation of the at least one hearing device (4).

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising upon making changes to the user-specific hearing system (3), in particular to the user-specific customisation of the at least one hearing device (4), downloading a program code update from the server (1) to the computing and/or communication device (2), installing updated program code in the computing and/or communication device (2), and executing the updated program code by the computing and/or communication device (2).

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of associating the computing and/or communication device (2) with the hearing system (3) based on at least one of the following:

the hearing system (3) further sending the computing and/or communication device identifier to the server (1);

the computing and/or communication device (2) further sending the hearing system/device identifier to the server (1);

pairing information, in particular comprising hearing system/device identifier and computing and/or communication device identifier data pairs, stored in a database (8) accessible by the server (1);

the hearing system (3) and/or the computing and/or communication device (2) sending account login information, for instance a username and a password, to the server (1);

storing account information, in particular information associating usernames with hearing system/device identifier and computing and/or communication device identifier information, in a database (8) accessible by the server (1).

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising at least one of the following:

taking an image of or scanning a visual code, for instance a QR code or a bar code, located on the at least one hearing device (4) or a packaging thereof, and extracting the hearing system/device identifier therefrom, and in particular sending the image or the scan of the visual code from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the server (1);

exchanging data, in particular the hearing system/device identifier, between the hearing system (3) and the computing and/or communication device (2) by means of near-field communication;

the hearing system (3) generating a sound sequence representative of the hearing system/device identifier, the computing and/or communication device (2) recording the sound sequence and sending the recorded sound sequence to the server (1).

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of connecting the hearing system (3) to a server (1) comprises authenticating by the server (1) the hearing system (3), and/or the step of connecting the computing and/or communication device (2) to the server (1) comprises authenticating by the server (1) the computing and/or communication device (2).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein authenticating comprises at least one of the following:

sending an audio file from the server (1) to the computing and/or communication device (2), outputting the audio file via a loudspeaker of the computing and/or communication device (2), picking up sound from the loudspeaker by a microphone of the hearing system (3), sending the sound picked up by the microphone to the server (1);

sending an audio file/signal from the server (1) to the hearing system (3) or the computing and/or communication device (2), sending the received audio file/signal from the hearing system (3) to the computing and/or communication device (2) or vice versa via a short-range communication link, for instance a Bluetooth link, and sending the received audio file/signal sent via the short-range communication link to the server (1);

sending an audio file from the server (1) to the hearing system (3) and to the computing and/or communication device (2), outputting the audio file via a loudspeaker of the computing and/or communication device (2), picking up sound from the loudspeaker by a microphone of the hearing system (3), extracting at least one characteristic sound feature from both the sound picked up by the microphone and the audio file received by the hearing system (3) and sending information back to the server (1) regarding a comparison result of the at least one extracted characteristic sound feature extracted from the sound picked up by the microphone and from the audio file received by the hearing system (3);

sending a PIN or TAN from the server (1) to the hearing system (3), converting the PIN or TAN into an audio signal by means of text-to-speech conversion, outputting the audio signal via a receiver of the hearing system (3) for the user (1) to hear, the user (1) inputting the heard PIN or TAN into the computing and/or communication device (2) and sending it from the computing and/or communication device (2) to the server (1);

both the hearing system (3) and the computing and/or communication device (2) picking up ambient sound by means of their microphones and sending the picked-up audio signal to the server (1), in particular together with time information, e.g. a time stamp, more particularly both the hearing system (3) and the computing and/or communication device (2) extracting at least one characteristic sound feature from the picked-up audio signal and both the hearing system (3) and the computing and/or communication device (2) sending data regarding the at least one characteristic sound feature to the server (1).

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the hearing system control and/or configuration service comprises at least one of the following:

fitting the hearing system (3), in particular the at least one hearing device (4), to the individual hearing ability and/or preferences of the user (6);

providing maintenance and/or support information;

selecting a hearing program;

adjusting one or more signal processing parameters of the at least one hearing device (4), in particular the volume;

selecting an input source of the at least one hearing device (4);

transferring logged data, for instance usage information of the hearing system (3) or its current operational or signal processing settings, from the hearing system (3) to the computing and/or communication device (2);

sending a signal picked-up by a microphone or applied to a receiver of the at least one hearing device (4) to the computing and/or communication device (2) for remote monitoring and support purposes;

providing auditory training exercises;

performing remote diagnostics of the hearing system (3);

selecting a hearing program for the at least one hearing device (4) based on location information determined by the computing and/or communication device;

providing location information regarding the hearing system (3) to the computing and/or communication device (2), for instance to retrieve the hearing system (3) or the at least one hearing device (4) when it has been lost or stolen;

disabling by activation at the computing and/or communication device (2) one or more functionalities of the hearing system (3), for instance in the case when the hearing system (3) has been lost or stolen;

triggering by activation at the computing and/or communication device (2) outputting an acoustic signal via a receiver of the hearing system, in particular of the at least one hearing device (4), for instance in the case when the hearing system, in particular the at least one hearing device, has been lost or stolen.