Earbud Equal-Loudness Compensation for Personalized Hearing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Audiogram tests provide limited insights into hearing abilities outside the tested frequency range, failing to compensate for hearing disorders or abnormalities in less commonly assessed bands, leading to suboptimal hearing experiences.
Innovation Solution
An auricular device configured with a speaker, microphone, storage, and processor to generate an equal-loudness hearing profile based on user and average person perceptions, modifying acoustic signals to optimize listening experience across a range of frequencies and sound-pressure levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If audiogram tests are used to generate hearing profiles, then pure-tone thresholds at specific frequencies (250 Hz to 8,000 Hz) can be detected, but hearing abilities outside the tested frequency range and variations in hearing ability across different sound-pressure levels are overlooked
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the frequency range and sound-pressure levels based on the user's specific hearing needs. Instead of using a fixed frequency range (250 Hz to 8,000 Hz), the equal-loudness hearing profile extends beyond these limits and adapts to compensate for hearing deficiencies across a broader spectrum of frequencies and intensities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of hearing assessment by introducing equal-loudness contours that account for perceived loudness across different frequencies and sound-pressure levels. This transforms the static audiogram approach into a dynamic model that reflects how humans actually perceive sound intensity variations.
2Measurement precision
If audiogram-based hearing profiles are used, then hearing loss related to peripheral auditory structures can be detected, but personalized hearing deficiencies across a range of frequencies and sound-pressure levels cannot be compensated for
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses equal-loudness hearing profiles to provide feedback about how different frequencies and sound-pressure levels are perceived by the user versus an average person. This feedback mechanism enables personalized compensation by adjusting audio signals based on the user's specific hearing characteristics across the full range of frequencies and intensities.
Solution Approach 2:
The equal-loudness hearing profile is established in advance to guide real-time audio processing. By pre-determining the user's hearing deficiencies across various frequencies and sound-pressure levels, the system can proactively compensate for these deficits before audio playback, ensuring personalized hearing enhancement.
3Adaptability or versatility
If equal-loudness hearing profiles are generated and applied to acoustic signals, then personalized hearing deficiencies can be compensated for across a range of frequencies and sound-pressure levels, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a simplified representation of the user's hearing profile using equal-loudness contours, which serve as a template for audio processing. Rather than implementing complex real-time analysis of all possible frequency and intensity combinations, the patent uses pre-established contour data to guide signal modification, reducing computational complexity while maintaining personalization.
Data Source
AI summary
A system may include a storage device, configured to store computer-executable instructions. A system may include an ear-bud configured to be positioned within an ear canal of a user, the ear-bud comprising: a speaker, a microphone; and one or more processors in communication with the storage device, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: obtain a user hearing profile, obtain an equal-loudness hearing profile, receive audio data from the microphone, and generate a second audio data based on a first sound-pressure level, a second sound-pressure level, a first frequency; and cause the speaker to emit the second audio data within the ear canal of the user, such that the user perceives the audio data as if the user has normal hearing.