Hearing Economics

While technological advances continue to evolve the world of hearing devices, other technologies delve closer to the core problem by considering methods to nip the hearing problem in the bud, thereby alleviating the need for some devices that limit themselves to hearing correction. Here are a few nip-in-the-bud patents in this month’s list:  #11433073 by Ting Therapeutics reports on treatment

An Innovative Approach to the Signal to Noise Problem   Microsoft’s patent #11410426 aims to raise small talk to middle talk in electronic meeting recordings and transcripts by eliminating user utterances that are difficult and time consuming to review. As the patent wryly observes, the vast majority of recorded content is of low importance to users.  Imagine a future where

Making It Real Verizon’s patent #11386903 seeks to improve speech in artificial worlds, where understanding speech turns out to be just as hard as in daily life As in the real world, certain artificial reality worlds may immerse users in complex and chaotic audio environments. For instance, an artificial reality world may include a significant number of people speaking at

Minding Our Auditory Manners OtoUSA’s patent #1367348 aims to outfit traffic signals to automate and improve IDing and chastising those who scorn noise ordinances on the road: “for a mobile audio signal source which makes loud noise at arbitrary places and time, for example illegally modified car, old vehicle or speeding motorcycle, it is hard to give evidence, or a

Just doin’ their thangs Amazon and Apple came up with earbud designs this month (respectively, D951236 & D950526). It took two inventors to create Amazon’s bud while Apple’s took a whopping 20. Will Apple’s design be 10 times better, does Amazon make their inventors work 10 times as hard, or probably none of the above? Bragi continues to do interesting things

Among the many interesting patents in this month’s list, Oticon’s #11297444 for a Hearing Aid System is a standout for all its sensor-laden activity, as described here. Reading the description, it’s hard to envision how to know that the device is properly inserted in the ear, but the sensors probably tell you.  … at least one surface electrode located at

Avocado oil is advocated for heart health; also for treating osteoarthritis. Now, add hearing health to the list of things for which avocado oil is a Good Thing.  Dong Kook Phar Co Ltd’s patent #11273194 claims a Pharmaceutical composition containing avocado oil fraction as active ingredient for prevention or treatment of hearing loss. The March 2022 Patent List Description Patent

Ear Device Variety The January 2022 patent post highlighted sensors loaded onto ear devices. For those interested in more on sensors, see Sonova’s patent #11240611 in this month’s list, which provides a good summary of sensor types and applications under development. Nocira’s patent #11246793, entitled Ear Pumps, describes a treatment device [that] can utilize specific patterns of pressure applied to

More to Them Than Meets the Eardrum Hearing aids are fast developing into all-round sensing devices, multitasking on top of sound amplification by tracking eye movement and measuring body temperature (Starkey’s patents 11223915 & 11213252); using EEG and cardiovascular signals for biofeedback (GN Hearing’s 11228849 & MindMics’ 11234069); and monitoring health in general (Google’s 11219412).  No doubt, that’s just the

Hearable is a relatively new word in our vocabulary. It’s only made the title of 6 US patents since it first appeared in 7/2019. Not until this month has a patent title specified a hearable of the type we see on the market:   Three patents aim to authenticate or detect of existing devices (Harmon,  Apple and Qualcomm) Two Facebook patents