SELF-STEERING DIRECTIONAL HEARING AID AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF
First Claim
1. A hearing aid, comprising:
- a direction sensor configured to produce data for determining a direction in which attention of a user is directed;
microphones to provide output signals indicative of sound received at the user from a plurality of directions;
a speaker for converting an electrical signal into enhanced sound; and
an acoustic processor configured to be coupled to said direction sensor, said microphones, and said speaker, the acoustic processor being configured to superpose said output signals based on said determined direction to yield an enhanced signal based on said received sound, the enhanced signal having a higher content of sound received from the direction than sound received at the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hearing aid and a method of enhancing sound. In one embodiment, the hearing aid includes: (1) a direction sensor configured to produce data for determining a direction in which attention of a user is directed, (2) microphones to provide output signals indicative of sound received at the user from a plurality of directions, (3) a speaker for converting an electrical signal into enhanced sound and (4) an acoustic processor configured to be coupled to the direction sensor, the microphones, and the speaker, the acoustic processor being configured to superpose the output signals based on the determined direction to yield an enhanced signal based on the received sound, the enhanced signal having a higher content of sound received from the direction than sound received at the user.
69 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hearing aid, comprising:
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a direction sensor configured to produce data for determining a direction in which attention of a user is directed; microphones to provide output signals indicative of sound received at the user from a plurality of directions; a speaker for converting an electrical signal into enhanced sound; and an acoustic processor configured to be coupled to said direction sensor, said microphones, and said speaker, the acoustic processor being configured to superpose said output signals based on said determined direction to yield an enhanced signal based on said received sound, the enhanced signal having a higher content of sound received from the direction than sound received at the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of enhancing sound, comprising:
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determining a direction of visual attention of a user; providing output signals indicative of sound received from a plurality of directions at the user by microphones having fixed positions relative to one another and relative to the user; superposing said output signals based on said direction of visual attention to yield an enhanced sound signal; and converting said enhanced sound signal into enhanced sound, the enhanced sound having a increased content of sound from the determined direction than the sound received at the user. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A hearing aid, comprising:
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an eyeglass frame; a direction sensor on said eyeglass frame and configured to provide data indicative of a direction of visual attention of a user wearing the eyeglass frame; microphones arranged in an array and configured to provide output signals indicative of sound received at the user from a plurality of directions; an earphone to convert an enhanced signal into enhanced sound; and an acoustic processor configured to be coupled to said direction sensor, said earphone and said microphones, the processor being configured to superpose said output signals to produce the enhanced signal, said enhanced sound having a increased content of sound incident on the user from the direction of visual attention than the sound received at the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification