Sound has been used throughout history as a way of exerting power and control. (Lawrence English, 2016)
The age of Personal Sound devices comes with a variety of names: PSAPs, OTCs, hearing aids, Hearables. Regardless of the name, manufacturer, or means of distribution, the core goal of such devices is to “aid” and improve communication, social interaction and (by inference) physical/mental health. Today’s list, below, is replete with a variety of methods, systems and devices along those lines.
So That’s Why They Don’t Eat in the Dining Room!
USPTO #9693548 (System and Method for Disrupting Auditory Communications Among Animals in a Defined Locale) does not make the list. It offers a contrarian approach in which low level sound disrupts communication, which is not what people with hearing difficulty need. They already face a multitude of scenarios in which their communications are disrupted; otherwise they wouldn’t need personal amplification systems.
Nevertheless, #9693548 holds fascination and offers hints of what our futures may hold, thanks to parabolic speakers (see feature image). The inventors (aptly named Swaddle & Hinders) make their case for a “benign” system of stationary or mobile parametric speaker arrays configured to disrupt auditory communications of a species and drive them from the ground, air, water, dining room, etc:
“It has been found that when animals cannot communicate effectively in their usual auditory manner, [they] tend to move to a location where such auditory communication is possible. … Animal species’ auditory communications are disrupted with low sound level noise as the means to substantially reduce or eliminate the[ir] presence…in a defined locale [while]…minimizing/eliminating any noise impact on surround communities.”
Swaddle & Hinders aim to keep birds from flying in air traffic spaces, and other desirable species displacements. But, it is a short step to substitute “humans” for “species” and imagine a variety of present and future sound environments which discourage communication and encourage human migration to more amenable spaces. Communal dining halls offer proof of concept, although the “benign” part is debatable.
It’s another short step to envision Swaddle and Hinders’ patent applied to protected open spaces (no more need for “keep off the grass” signs), galleries and libraries (no more need for “Quiet please” signs), and over-crowded public spaces. The patent offers an interesting concept to use low-level noise pollution to clean up other kinds of pollution in a benign manner.
Ultimately, though, the steps lead back to the age-old use of noise to exert power and control, per the quote that began this post. Disrupting,displacing, even sequestering large swaths of populations is not out of the question and is far from benign, no matter how low the noise level.
Thank goodness the devices described below aim to enhance persona communication.
The June/July List
|
Description |
Patent Number |
Assignee |
Issued |
|
Hearing aid compatible audio device with acoustic noise cancellation |
Apple Inc. (Cupertino, CA) |
6/06/2017 |
|
|
Combining auditory attention cues with phoneme posterior scores for phone/vowel/syllable boundary detection |
Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Tokyo, JP) |
6/06/2017 |
|
|
Arrangement with a handset device, an interface unit and a hearing device |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
6/06/2017 |
|
|
Auditory prosthesis using stimulation rate as a multiple of periodicity of sensed sound
|
Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) |
6/06/2017 |
|
|
RF antenna and hearing device with RF antenna |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
6/13/2017 |
|
|
Assistive hearing device for use with a telephone and a hearing aid |
Bendetti, Richard J (Malibu, CA) |
6/13/2017 |
|
|
System and method for auditory canal measuring, facial contouring |
Chan, Benjamin (Markham, CA); Ho, Stephen Kun Chung (Toronto, CA) |
6/13/2017 |
|
|
Personalized auditory-somatosensory stimulation to treat tinnitus |
The Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) |
6/20/2017 |
|
|
Audio control using auditory event detection |
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp (San Francisco, CA) |
6/20/2017 |
|
|
Method of adjusting a hearing apparatus with the aid of the sensory memory |
Sivantos Pte. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) |
6/20/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid with an antenna |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
6/20/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid battery charging base |
ZPower, LLC (Camarillo, CA) |
6/20/2017 |
|
|
Systems and methods for positioning an intraneural electrode array in an auditory nerve |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Hearing assistance device control |
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Method and apparatus for suppressing transient sounds in hearing assistance devices |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Modular connection assembly for a hearing assistance device |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Magnetic means assembly for bone conducting hearing aid |
Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid system with a positioning tool |
Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Method of fitting a hearing aid and a hearing aid
|
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
6/27/2017 |
|
|
Manufacturing an electrode array for a stimulating medical device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Audio control using auditory event detection |
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (San Francisco, CA) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid system adapted for providing enriched sound and a method of generating enriched sound |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Method and apparatus for suppressing transient sounds in hearing assistance devices |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Hearing assistance system with own voice detection |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Method of superimposing spatial auditory cues on externally picked-up microphone signals |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid device |
Sonion Nederland BV (Hoofddorp, NL) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid fitting procedure and processing based on subjective space representation |
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Electromyography response detection systems and methods |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Connectorized cochlear implant systems and methods |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
7/04/2017 |
|
|
Hearing assistance system comprising electrodes for picking up brain wave signals |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
7/11/2017 |
|
|
External speech processor unit for an auditory prosthesis |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/11/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid device |
9706313 |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
7/11/2017 |
|
Transceiver for a hearing aid and a method for operating such a transceiver |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
7/11/2017 |
|
|
Method of auditory training and a hearing aid system |
Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) |
7/11/2017 |
|
|
Packet loss concealment techniques for phone-to-hearing-aid streaming |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/11/2017 |
|
|
Adaptive residual feedback suppression |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
System and method for master-slave data transmission based on a flexible serial bus for use in hearing devices |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Dual antenna system and method for charging one or more hearing aids |
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Munich, DE) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Hearing assistance system with own voice detection |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Packet loss concealment for bidirectional ear-to-ear streaming |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Binaural hearing assistance system comprising two wireless interfaces |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Binaural hearing system |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Hearing aid gain determination system, hearing aid gain determination method, and computer program |
Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Osaka, JP) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
User interface control of multiple parameters for a hearing assistance device |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
Diminishing tinnitus loudness by hearing instrument treatment |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
System and method for calibration and reproduction of audio signals based on auditory feedback |
EarIQ, Inc. (Nashville, TN) |
7/18/2017 |
|
|
System and method for user controllable auditory environment customization |
Harman International Industries, Inc. (Stamford, CT) |
7/25/2017 |
|
|
Electromagnetic transducer with specific internal geometry |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/25/2017 |
|
|
Sound processing in a hearing device using externally and internally received sounds |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/25/2017 |
|
|
Cochlear implant electrode assembly insertion tool |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/25/2017 |
|
|
Stimulus timing for a stimulating medical device |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
7/25/2017 |
|
|
Method and system for electrical stimulation of a patient’s cochlea |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
7/25/2017 |
feature image from sheet 8 of USPTO #9693548
Thanks for this article. What do you make of Apple’s patent, first one on your list?
Hello Nancy. Thanks for your comment. Though I am not a patent expert, especially when it comes to Apple, this patent seems like a good thing for all involved, based on this information found in the “Background” section that describes the goal of the patent: “Although active noise cancellation circuitry (in a mobile phone) is effective in reducing efforts of ambient acoustic noise on non-hearing impaired users, active noise cancellation circuitry often produces interference for hearing impaired users who use mobile phones with a hearing aid. … There is a need for an audio device that reduces interference cause by active noise cancellation circuitry picked-up by a hearing aid that is electromagnetically coupled to the audio device.”