Hearing Economics

What will they think of next? Apple’s patent #11950040 envisions an in-ear device with a volume control feature on the stem, which the user can rotate — up to increase volume, down to decrease. Not exactly a new concept but the patent goes further by enabling volume control with head nods or with head turns — right to increase volume,

Differing aspects of security and protection in ear devices Security and protection conjure thoughts of privacy and theft protection for most of us. But there are many other aspects to consider, as these patents demonstrate. GN’s patent #11924616, Management in a Hearing Device, aims to shield the device from malfeasance or parasitism from outside software by preventing or limiting access

There were lots of interesting and useful patent ideas in February. Here are some that caught our eye: Q (Cue) Ltd in Israel has a patent for silent speech sensing (#11908478) entitled Determining speech from facial skin movements using a housing supported by ear or associated with an earphone. For hearing practitioners unfamiliar with the term (including us at Hearing

ObjectVideo Labs’s patent 11875571, is for hearing aid users who stay at home, but not in the way you’d think. Entitled Smart hearing assistance in monitored property, the patent envisions the house as a wireless blueprint for everyday activities in which: An analysis system can communicate with sensors included in a smart home to improve audio content provided to a

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

You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running Hearing Aid Counseling 101 usually includes the caution against magical thinking that hearing aids enable wearers to hear through walls when others are talking or shouting at them from other locations. It’s a communication mismatch where the odds are stacked against the wearer — not only is s/he expected to

Lookin’ Good and Driving Good Self driving vehicles are a reality now, which has ushered in a great deal of thinking and innovation to ensure safety for those in the car and in the surround. That includes the car being able to hear in varying driving conditions. Not surprisingly, such thinking also extends in a good way to cars driven

Sonova’s patent #11758341 has an intriguing title: Coached fitting in the field.  Whatever the coaching, it seems to involve a hearing device [which] may comprise a plurality of preset hearing programs and at least one configurable hearing program. Regents Of The University Of Minnesota’s patent #11765523, Ultrasonic hearing system and related methods, uses a microphone  and creates modulated ultrasound signals

Apple’s patent #11716567 works the headset comfort angle by eliminating it.  It describes a device worn on the user’s clothing, directing audio to the ears while limiting audibility to others: the privacy of the audio directed to the user can be maintained without requiring the user to wear audio headsets on, over, or in the ears of the user. Apple being

The aptly named MDIdeaFactory Inc has come up with an uncomfortable new application for in-ear devices, melding autonomic response with classic Skinnerian psychology to shape wearers’ behaviors. Negative reinforcement isn’t a new idea but adopting ear calorics for that purpose may explain the MDIdea part of the company’s name. Their patent #11707380, Ear apparatus and methods of use, describes a