Hearing Economics

Starkey’s patent # 12302084, Hearing device with multiple neural networks for sound enhancement, discusses the use of simplified Deep Noise Network (DNN) models to enhance not only the user’s perception of speech, but also specialty applications to enhance any type of sound whose signals can be characterized, such as music, animal noises (e.g., bird calls), machine noises, pure or mixed

Starkey’s patent #12273683 (Self-fit hearing instruments with self-reported measures of hearing loss and listening) aims to implement intuitive strategies for self-fitting OTCs and other ear devices. It describes direct or indirect mapping of an audiogram from responses to a questionnaire of hearing loss and listening perception (e.g., BHI Quick Hearing Check ). The derived audiogram is then used to perform

Samsung’s patent #12251292 is  au courant with merging hearing aid and hearables technologies. Entitled Multi-device integration with hearable for managing hearing disorders, the device describes implementations which include generating an audiogram, noise cancellation, [and] hearing enhancement. The March 2025 patent list Description Patent Number Assignee Issued Hearing assistance device housing for improved biometric sensing 12239461 Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)

Auditory assistance systems are under-utilized, as Norphonic AS  patent #12190717 (Auditory guidance method and system) points out. Their patent aims to help people get around without getting lost or bumping into things, especially in fraught situations. As the patent puts it: … people navigate in long corridors rely heavily on visual aids such as signs, arrows, and markings on the

Norphonic AS has a patent (#12190717 ) entitled Auditory guidance method and system which is designed to help in high-risk situations such as fires in confined spaces. But if it’s implemented in airports, it will help everyone everyday! Currently, information helping people navigate in long corridors rely heavily on visual aids such as signs, arrows, and markings on the floor.

Beijing Friendship Hospital and Capital Medical University (Beijing, CN) US 12183002 B2 (Hearing state prediction apparatus and method based on diffusion tensor) proposes to map brain white matter microstructure and corresponding hearing state of a subject thereby disclosing the relationship between hearing disorder and brain microstructure change.  The December 2024 patent list Description Patent Number Assignee Issued Array insertion tool

The Future of Hearing: These guys have thought of everything If you’re having trouble hearing while driving, Ford Global Technologies has your back with patent #12138045 for an In-vehicle hearing test If you want more control over what you’re hearing, Apple’s got you with patent #12141347 for Machine learning and user driven selective hearing If the elevator’s giving you barotrauma,

Panasonic #12126963, Vehicle assistive hearing, describes a system of various audio sources within a vehicle for generating a number of different communications, ranging from safety alerts to streaming audio infotainment. The October 2024 patent list Description Patent Number Assignee Issued User authentication via in-ear acoustic measurements 12102427 Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) 10/01/2024 Method for external ear canal pressure regulation to

A few quick AI queries inform us that: 78% of preventable injury-related deaths in the United States occur in the home. In 2022, there were an estimated 178,400 preventable injury-related deaths in homes and communities. About one-quarter of non-fatal injuries to men occur in the home. Falls are the second leading cause of home accidental or injury related deaths And that only

Magic Leap is an imaginative company, whimsically exploring new/niche AR/VR, as manifest in patent #12055719 (Systems and methods for sign language recognition). The patent starts with this Fig.1 illustration, which has little to do with the patent but is a fun way to grab attention and fire up your imagination. Getting to the purpose (and not shown in Fig 1),