Adaptive Headphones with Sensor Feedback for Hearing Personalization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard audio headphones fail to account for individual differences in hearing, leading to suboptimal sound reproduction for users with varying hearing sensitivities, as they are not designed to adapt based on audiometric information.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating sensors and a signal processing module in headphones that measure user responses to audio stimuli, allowing for real-time adjustments to compensate for hearing differences, thereby enhancing sound perception to ideal or desired hearing levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard audio headphones are used, then the device complexity is low and ease of manufacture is high, but the adaptability to individual hearing characteristics is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors to measure user responses to audio stimuli and uses this feedback information to automatically adjust audio signals in real-time, enabling adaptation to individual hearing characteristics without manual intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The headphones perform self-calibration by automatically measuring user hearing characteristics and adjusting audio output without requiring manual equalization settings or user intervention, making the system self-adaptive
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual equalization controls are provided, then the ease of operation is improved, but the adaptability remains limited compared to automatic adaptation
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically measures user hearing characteristics and adjusts audio signals without requiring manual equalization controls, making the adaptation process self-service and eliminating the need for user intervention in the equalization process
3Measurement precision
If sensors and signal processing are added, then the measurement precision of hearing characteristics is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Sensors measure user responses to audio stimuli and provide feedback to the signal processing module, enabling precise measurement of hearing characteristics through automated feedback-based assessment
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual hearing assessment methods with automated sensor-based measurement, using electronic and computational methods to precisely characterize user hearing characteristics
Data Source
AI summary
Technology presented herein increases a user's enjoyment of sound by personalizing an audio signal so that the user perceives the audio signal as if the user had ideal hearing and/or desired hearing. In one embodiment, headphones on a user's head include a sensor and a speaker. While the speaker plays an audio signal to the user, the sensor records the user's response to the audio signal. The sensor can be a microphone, a brainwave sensor, an EEG sensor, etc. The user's response can be the audio response inside the user's ear, the brainwave response associated with the user, electrical skin response associated with the user, etc. Based on the measured response, and based on the knowledge of how other people perceive sound, the audio signal is modified to compensate for the difference between the user's hearing and the ideal hearing and/or desired hearing, therefore increasing the user's enjoyment of sound.