SOMATIC, AUDITORY AND COCHLEAR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A method of transforming a sequence of symbols representing phonemes into a sequence of arrays of nerve stimuli, the method comprising:
- establishing a correlation between each member of a phoneme symbol set and an assignment of one or more channels of a multi-electrode array;
accessing a sequence of phonetic symbols corresponding to a message; and
activating a sequence of one or more electrodes corresponding to each phonetic symbol of the message identified by the correlation.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and devices (620, 1220, 1410) to deliver a tactile speech analog to a person'"'"'s skin (404, 604, 1082, 1440) providing a silent, invisible, hands-free, eyes-free, and ears-free way to receive and directly comprehend electronic communications (1600b). Embodiments include an alternative to hearing aids that will enable people with hearing loss to better understand speech. A device (1410), worn like watch or bracelet, supplements a person'"'"'s remaining hearing to help identify and disambiguate those sounds he or she can not hear properly. Embodiments for hearing aids (620) and hearing prosthetics (1220) are also described.
103 Citations
110 Claims
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1. A method of transforming a sequence of symbols representing phonemes into a sequence of arrays of nerve stimuli, the method comprising:
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establishing a correlation between each member of a phoneme symbol set and an assignment of one or more channels of a multi-electrode array; accessing a sequence of phonetic symbols corresponding to a message; and activating a sequence of one or more electrodes corresponding to each phonetic symbol of the message identified by the correlation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of sounds, the method comprising:
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converting a sequence of spoken words into electrical signals; digitizing the electrical signals representative of the speech sounds; transforming the speech sounds into digital symbols representing corresponding phonemes; transforming the symbols representing the corresponding phonemes into sound representations; and transforming the sound representations into sounds. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the method comprising:
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converting a sequence of spoken words into electrical signals; digitizing the electrical signals representative of the speech sounds; transforming the speech sounds into digital symbols representing corresponding phonemes; transforming the symbols representing the corresponding phonemes into stimulus definitions; and transforming the stimulus definitions into a sequence of nerve stimuli. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of transforming a sequence of symbols representing phonemes into a sequence of arrays of nerve stimuli, the method comprising:
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establishing a correlation between each member of a phoneme symbol set and an assignment of one or more channels of a multi-stimulator array; accessing a sequence of phonetic symbols corresponding to a message; and activating a sequence of one or more stimulators corresponding to each phonetic symbol of the message identified by the correlation. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method of training a user, the method comprising:
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providing a set of somatic stimulations to a user, wherein the set of somatic stimulations is indicative of a plurality of phonemes, and wherein the phonemes are based at least in part on an audio communication; providing the audio communication concurrently to the user with the plurality of phonemes; and selectively modifying at least portions of the audio communication to the user during the providing of the set of somatic stimulations to the user. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method of training a user, the method comprising:
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providing a set of somatic stimulations to a user, wherein the set of somatic stimulations is indicative of a plurality of phonemes, and wherein the phonemes are based at least in part on an audiovisual communication; providing the audiovisual communication concurrently to the user with the plurality of phonemes; and selectively modifying at least portions of the audiovisual communication to the user during the providing of the set of somatic stimulations to the user. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of sounds, the system comprising:
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a first converter configured to digitize electrical signals representative of a sequence of spoken words; a speech recognizer configured to receive the digitized electrical signals and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words; a mapper configured to assign sound sets to phonemes utilizing an audiogram so as to generate a map; a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words and the map and to generate a sequence of sound representations corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and a second converter configured to convert the sequence of sound representations into a sequence of audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (64)
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65. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of sounds, the system comprising:
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a first converter configured to digitize electrical signals representative of a sequence of spoken words; a speech recognizer configured to receive the digitized electrical signals and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words; a data structure comprising sound sets mapped to phonemes; a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words and the data structure and to generate a sequence of sound representations corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and a second converter configured to convert the sequence of sound representations into a sequence of audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (66)
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67. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the system comprising:
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a converter configured to digitize electrical signals representative of a sequence of spoken words; a speech recognizer configured to receive the digitized electrical signals and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words; a mapper configured to assign nerve stimuli arrays to phonemes utilizing an audiogram so as to generate a map; and a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words and the map and to generate a sequence of stimulus definitions corresponding to the sequence of phonemes. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70)
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71. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the system comprising:
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a converter configured to digitize electrical signals representative of a sequence of spoken words; a speech recognizer configured to receive the digitized electrical signals and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words; a data structure comprising nerve stimuli arrays mapped to phonemes; and a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words and the data structure and to generate a sequence of stimulus definitions corresponding to the sequence of phonemes. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the system comprising:
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a processor configured to generate a sequence of phonemes representative of a sequence of spoken words and to transform the sequence of phonemes using a data structure comprising nerve stimuli arrays mapped to phonemes to produce a sequence of stimulus definitions corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and an electrode array configured to play the sequence of stimulus definitions. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A system for processing a sequence of spoken words into a sequence of sounds, the system comprising:
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a processor configured to generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of spoken words and to transform the sequence of phonemes using a data structure comprising sound sets mapped to phonemes to produce sound representations corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and a converter configured to convert the sound representations into audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (84)
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85. A system for processing a sequence of text into a sequence of sounds, the system comprising:
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a first converter configured to receive a sequence of text and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text; a mapper configured to assign sound sets to phonemes utilizing a hearing audiogram so as to generate a map; a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text and the map and to generate sound representations corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and a second converter configured to convert the sound representations into audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87)
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88. A system for processing a sequence of text into a sequence of sounds, the system comprising:
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a text converter configured to receive a sequence of text and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text; a data structure comprising sound sets mapped to phonemes; a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text and the data structure and to generate sound representations corresponding to the sequence of phonemes; and a second converter configured to convert the sound representations into audible sounds. - View Dependent Claims (89)
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90. A system for processing a sequence of text into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the system comprising:
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a converter configured to receive a sequence of text and generate a sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text; a data structure comprising nerve stimuli arrays mapped to phonemes; and a transformer configured to receive the sequence of phonemes representative of the sequence of text and the data structure and to generate a sequence of stimulus definitions corresponding to the sequence of phonemes. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92, 93)
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94. A method of processing a sequence of text into a sequence of sounds, the method comprising:
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transforming the sequence of text into digital symbols representing corresponding phonemes; transforming the symbols representing the corresponding phonemes into sound representations; and transforming the sound representations into a sequence of sounds.
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95. A method of processing a sequence of text into a sequence of nerve stimuli, the method comprising:
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transforming the sequence of text into digital symbols representing corresponding phonemes; transforming the symbols representing the corresponding phonemes into stimulus definitions; and transforming the stimulus definitions into a sequence of nerve stimuli. - View Dependent Claims (96, 97, 98, 99)
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100. A method of creating a data structure configured to transform symbols representing phonemes into sound representations, the method comprising:
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identifying phonemes corresponding to a language utilized by a user; establishing a set of allowed sound frequencies; generating a correspondence mapping the identified phonemes to the set of allowed sound frequencies such that each constituent phoneme of the identified phonemes is assigned a subset of one or more frequencies from the set of allowed sound frequencies; and mapping each constituent phoneme of the identified phonemes to a set of one or more sounds. - View Dependent Claims (101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110)
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Specification