Another Pandemic-Inspired Innovation
Zoom fatigue was with all of us during the pandemic and may become endemic as we prefer to individualize our workplaces. T-Mobile is here to help with patent #11502861 Simulated auditory space for online meetings.
The title sounds a little Zoomy, but T-Mobile gets the problem and sees a better path ahead to enable our preferences. Here’s a heavily paraphrased version of their vision:
…conventional virtual meeting[s are] akin to talking to someone on the phone rather than in-person meeting. This can reduce participant engagement and interpersonal interactions, which can decrease productivity. What is needed is a more immersive virtual meeting system permitting participants to select their own virtual location upon entry to the virtual meeting, assigning the virtual location or adjust audio based on a participant’s requested or preset audio settings (e.g., hearing loss in the right ear), allowing parallel meetings (i.e., main speaker is heard by all and side conversations can be muted or have the audio settings reduced for non-participants).
The November 2022 Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Event detection in an implantable auditory prothesis | 11484218 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/01/2022 |
| Hearing test system and method for determining credibility of a hearing test | 11484226 | Merry Electronics (Shenzhen) Co Ltd (Guangdong, CN | 11/01/2022 |
| Implanted medical devices having electrode assemblies | 11484704 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/01/2022 |
| In-ear Electrode Assembly For Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation | 11484713 | Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University (Scottsdale, AZ) | 11/01/2022 |
| Systems and methods for providing nature sounds | 11485231 | Harman International Industries Inc (Stamford, CT) | 11/01/2022 |
| Adaptive, integrated, and interactive education and communication system for people with hearing loss and hearing healthcare providers and related methods | 11488492 | Healthcare technologies & Methods LLC (Fredericksburg, VA) | 11/01/2022 |
| Methods And Systems For Processing, Storing, And Publishing Data Collected By An In-ear Device | 11488590 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 11/01/2022 |
| Hearing enhancement methods and systems | 11488618 | IpVenture Inc (San Jose, CA) | 11/01/2022 |
| Battery module and hearing device | 11489369 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 11/01/2022 |
| Method And Apparatus For In-ear Canal Sound Suppression | 11489966 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 11/01/2022 |
| Directivity Hearing-aid Device And Method Thereof | 11490211 | AWNT Ltd (New Taipei, TW) | 11/01/2022 |
| Radio frequency mems devices for improved wireless performance for hearing assistance devices | 11490212 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 11/01/2022 |
| Binaural hearing aid system providing a beamforming signal output and comprising an asymmetric valve state | 11490213 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 11/01/2022 |
| Hearing aid electrical contact structure and hearing aid | 11490214 | Xiamen Retone Hearing Technology Co Ltd (Xiamen, CN) | 11/01/2022 |
| Hearing aid | 11490215 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 11/01/2022 |
| Compensating hidden hearing losses by attenuating high sound pressure levels | 11490216 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/01/2022 |
| Disposable sensor array wearable device sleeve system and method | 11490858 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 11/01/2022 |
| Acoustic output device with antenna | 11491331 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/08/2022 |
| Cochlear implant system and method for detecting electrode migration using electrically evoked compound action potentials | 11491332 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/08/2022 |
| Systems And Methods For Communicating With Vision And Hearing Impaired Vehicle Occupants
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11492005 | GM Global Technology Operation LLC (Detroit, MI) | 11/08/2022 |
| Headset for acoustic authentication of a user | 11494473 | Plantronics Inc (Santa Cruz, CA) | 11/08/2022 |
| Systems and methods for limiter functions | 11496099 | Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH (Berlin, DE) | 11/08/2022 |
| Ear-plug device with in-ear cartilage conduction transducer
|
11496825 | Meta Platforms Technologies LLC (Menlo Park, CA) | 11/08/2022 |
| Host detection & acoustic module detection | 11496826 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/08/2022 |
| Microphone natural speech capture voice dictation system & method
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11496827 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 11/08/2022 |
| Dynamic control of multiple feedforward microphones in active noise reduction devices
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11496832 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/08/2022 |
| Elecroacoustic transducer assembly
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11496838 | Audeze LLC (Santa Ana, CA) | 11/08/2022 |
| Hearing Device With Antenna Extending From The Hearing Device
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11496843 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 11/08/2022 |
| Completely-in-canal hearing aid | 11496844 | Xiamen Retone | 11/08/2022 |
| Horizontal abutment extender | 11496845 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/08/22 |
| Hearing aid | 11496846 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 11/08/2022 |
| Shielded case for wireless earpieces | 11497150 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 11/08/2022 |
| Cochlear implants having detachable fixation elements and associated systems and methods | 11497910 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/15/2022 |
| Simulated auditory space for online meetings | 1502861 | T-Mobile USA Inc (Bellevue, WA) | 11/15/2022 |
| Capturing & synchronizing data from multiple sensors | 11503405 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/15/2022 |
| Acoustic sensor & electrical circuits therefor | 11503412 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 11/15/2022 |
| Systems & methods for customizing auditory devices | 11503413 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/15/2022 |
| Hearing device comprising a speech presence probability estimator | 11503414 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/15/2022 |
| Detection of feedback path change
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11503415 | Eargo Inc (San Jose, CA) | 11/15/2022 |
| Low-latency communication protocol for binaural applications
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11503416 | Semiconductor Components Industries LLC (Phoenix, AZ) | 11/15/2022 |
| Mapping virtual sound sources to physical speakers in extended reality applications
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11503422 | Harman International Industries Inc (Stamford, CT) | 11/15/2022 |
| Adaptive electronic hearing protection device | 11504278 | 3M Innovative Properties Co (St Paul, MN) | 11/22/2022 |
| Smart relaxation masks with wired earpieces | 11504497 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/22/2022 |
| Systems & methods for detecting noise floor of a sensor | 11508192 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/22/2022 |
| Sub-miniature microphone | 11509980 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 11/22/2022 |
| Earbuds with detachable harness strap | 11509989 | Plantronics Inc | 11/22/2022 |
| Wearable audio device with control platform | 11509992 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/22/2022 |
| Artificial intelligence based system and method for generating silence in earbuds | 11509995 | Assignee: Paranirupasingam, Abhivarman (Toronto, CA) | 11/22/2022 |
| Partial HRTF compensation or prediction for in-ear microphone arrays | 11510013 | Iyo Inc (Redwood City, CA) | 11/22/2022 |
| Dynamic stimulus resolution adaption | 11510014 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/22/2022 |
| Multiple sound source encoding in hearing prostheses | 11510015 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 11/22/2022 |
| Beam former calibration of a hearing device | 11510016 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/22/2022 |
| Hearing device comprising a microphone adapted to be located at or in the ear canal of a user | 11510017 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/22/2022 |
| Hearing system containing a hearing instrument & a method for operating the hearing instrument | 11510018 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 11/22/2022 |
| Hearing aid system for estimating acoustic transfer functions | 11510019 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/22/2022 |
| Systems & methods for coordinating rendering of a remote audio stream by binaural hearing devices | 11510020 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/22/2022 |
| Cochlear hearing device with cable antenna | 11510021 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/22/2022 |
| Implantable medical device and method of providing wire connections for it | 11511123 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/29/2022 |
| Audio eyeglasses with double-detent hinge | 11513366 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/29/2022 |
| Systems and methods for preparing reference signals for an acoustic echo canceler | 11514922 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 11/29/2022 |
| Sensor arrangement and method | 11516594 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 11/29/2022 |
| Hearing device for providing physiological information, and method of its operation | 11516598 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/29/2022 |
| Feedback control using a correlation measure | 11516600 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 11/29/2022 |
| Hearing assistance device with an accelerometer | 11516601 | Eargo Inc (San Jose, CA) | 11/29/2022 |
| Damping in contact hearing systems | 11516602 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 11/29/2022 |
| Contact hearing device & retention structure materials | 11516603 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 11/29/2022 |
| Personal Hearing Device, External Acoustic Processing Device And Associated Computer Program Product | 11518599 | Relajet Tech (Taiwan) Co Ltd (Taipei, TW) | 11/29/2022 |
| Hearing aid | D971413 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/29/2022 |
| Hearing aid | D971414 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 11/29/2022 |
Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD, owned and operated a dispensing audiology practice in Tucson and was active in management of HearingHealthMatters.org through 2017. She holds BA degrees in Communication Sciences, Psychology and Economics; MA in Communication Disorders; PhD in Hearing Sciences. Following post-doctoral work at Max Planck Institute (Munich, DE) and Eaton-Peabody Auditory Physiology Lab (Boston), she joined the Stanford medical school faculty as director of audiology. She has authored/edited numerous text books, chapters, journals, and articles and taught Marketing and Practice Management in a variety of academic settings. She continues to consult and write on topics related to hearing health care vis-à-vis consumer demands, professional training, technological advancement, capital investment, industry consolidation, regulatory control, product and service distribution, and strategic pricing.
