Selective Listening Ups Its Game
Magic Leap’s patent #11843931, Efficient rendering of virtual soundfields, proposes different processing methods, depending on the number of sounds in your surround. There’s one method for small numbers of sounds and another for large numbers. The goal is to develop an audio system … that increases the efficiency based on the number of sound sources (present) at a given time.
Efficiency is not the same as enhancement, which is what Harman International is after with patent #11843909, Systems and methods for vehicle sound enhancement. It wants to curate a bunch of your car engine’s internal combustion noises (e.g., engine configuration, arrangement of engine cylinders, timing of intake and exhaust valves) to design the engine sound you’d like to hear:
… some drivers may prefer a louder, raspier engine sound and thus may prefer to drive a sports car, while other drivers may prefer a smoother and quieter engine sound.
In the future, you can pretend your Alfa Romeo is a Harley.
The December 2023 patent list
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Methods and systems for evaluating hearing using cross frequency simultaneous masking | 11832936 | Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH (Berlin, DE) | 12/05/2023 |
| Monitoring system comprising a master device in wireless communication with at least one slave device having a sensor | 11832949 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 12/05/2023 |
| System and method for generating and recording auditory steady-state responses with a speech-like stimulus | 11832952 | Interacoustics A/S (Middelfart, DK) | 12/05/2023 |
| Non-planar ingress protection element for a sensor device | 11838708 | Knowles Electronics LLC (Itasca, IL) | 12/05/2023 |
| Hearing protection device, hearing protection system, and related method | 11838718 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 12/05/2023 |
| Active noise reduction earbud | 11838719 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 12/05/2023 |
| Hearing aids with parallel neural networks | 11838727 | Chromatic Inc (New York, NY) | 12/05/2023 |
| Sound awareness medical device | 11838728 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 12/05/2023 |
| Flexible ear piece for hearing aid | 11838729 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 12/05/2023 |
| Robust open-ear ambient sound control with leakage detection | 11842717 | Maxim Integrated Products Inc (San Jose, CA) | 12/12/2023 |
| Systems and methods for vehicle sound enhancement | 11843909 | Harman International Industries Inc (Stamford, CT) | 12/12/2023 |
| Hearing aid with voice or image recognition | 11843916 | OrCam Technologies Ltd (Jerusalem, IL) | 12/12/2023 |
| Hearing device comprising an input transducer in the ear | 11843917 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/12/2023 |
| Bone conduction implant | 11843918 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 12/12/2023 |
| Improving musical perception of a recipient of an auditory device | 11843919 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 12/12/2023 |
| Systems and methods for remote administration of hearing tests | 11843920 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 12/12/2023 |
| Efficient rendering of virtual soundfields | 11843931 | Magic Leap Inc (Plantation, FL) | 12/12/2023 |
| Digital hearing device with microphone in ear band | 11849268 | Olive Union Inc (Seoul, KR) | 12/19/2023 |
| Audio device | 11849271 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 12/19/2023 |
| Noise reduction method and system | 11849275 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/19/2023 |
| Mitigating acoustic feedback in hearing aids with frequency warping by all-pass networks | 11849283 | The Regents of The University of California (La Jolla, CA) | 12/19/2023 |
| Feedback control using a correlation measure | 11849284 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/19/2023 |
| Hearing aid device | 11849285 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/19/2023 |
| Ear-worn device configured for over-the-counter and prescription use | 11849286 | Chromatic Inc (New York, NY) | 12/19/2023 |
| Hearing system to be worn at a user’s head | 11849287 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/19/2023 |
| Usability and satisfaction of a hearing aid | 11849288 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 12/19/2023 |
| Personal audio assistant device and method | 11849297 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 12/19/2023 |
| Systems, devices, and methods for determining hearing ability and treating hearing loss | 11850043 | Anderson, Dean et al (applicants, Orem, UT) | 12/26/2023 |
| Noise-induced hearing loss susceptibility test method and test apparatus | 11850044 | NewSouth Innovations Pty Limited (Sydney, New South Wales, AU) | 12/26/2023 |
| Feedthrough placement | 11850417 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 12/26/2023 |
| Wireless headset supporting messages and hearing enhancement
|
11852901 | IngenioSpec LLC (San Jose, CA) | 12/26/2023 |
| Adaptive active noise cancellation based on head movement | 11854524 | Harman International Industries Inc (Stamford, CT) | 12/26/2023 |
| Determining input for speech processing engine | 11854550 | Magic Leap Inc (Plantation, FL) | 12/26/2023 |
| Wearable system speech processing | 11854566 | Magic Leap Inc (Plantation, FL) | 12/26/2023 |
| Transport and/or storage container for rechargeable wireless earphones | 11856353 | Sonova Consumer Hearing GmbH (Wedemark, DE) | 12/26/2023 |
| Wireless earbud, charging box and charging system for wireless earbud | 11856354 | Goertek Inc (Weifang, CN) | 12/26/2023 |
| Open-ear headphone | 11856356 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 12/26/2023 |
| Hearing device comprising a noise reduction system | 11856357 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 12/26/2023 |
| Hearing system, hearing device and method for providing an alert for a user | 11856367 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 12/26/2023 |
| Custom electronic switchable hearing protection system | 11856368 | Schumaier, Daniel R (applicant, Elizabethton, TN) | 12/26/2023 |
| Methods and systems implementing phonologically-trained computer-assisted hearing aids | 11856369 | Rafii, Abbas (applicant, Palo Alto, CA) | 12/26/2023 |
| System for audio rendering comprising a binaural hearing device and an external device | 11856370 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 12/26/2023 |
| Method and apparatus for own-voice sensing in a hearing assistance device | 11856371 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 12/26/2023 |
| Hearing device system and method for operating a hearing device system | 11856372 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 12/26/2023 |
| Method & device for in-ear echo suppression | 11856375 | Staton Techiya LLC (Delray Beach, FL) | 12/26/2023 |
| Active noise reduction audio devices and systems | 11856377 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 12/26/2023 |
| Method for processing an audio signal in accordance with a room impulse response, signal processing unit, audio encoder, audio decoder, and binaural renderer | 11856388 | Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Munich, DE) | 12/26/2023 |
| Components of a BTE prosthesis | D1009268 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 12/26/2023 |
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.
