Hearing Aid Fitting System with Perceptibility-Based Input Restriction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hearing device fitting methods often result in users not perceiving audible differences, leading to loss of confidence and potential misuse, especially when sounds unknown to the fitting system are used, as incorrect adjustments can be made, resulting in negative outcomes.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for fitting hearing devices that involve receiving audio signals, providing a user interface for modifying sound properties, processing these signals based on modifier values, determining modifier effectiveness, and restricting input changes based on perceptible changes, ensuring that only adjustments resulting in noticeable changes are allowed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fitting is performed with sounds unknown to the fitting system, then individualization towards specific hearing activities is improved, but the risk of incorrect adjustments increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines a modifier effectiveness value that indicates whether a modifier change results in a perceptible change of the processed audio signal. Based on this feedback, the system restricts input for modifying audio signals when the change would not be perceptible. This feedback mechanism prevents incorrect adjustments by only allowing modifications that will actually be perceived by the user, thus resolving the contradiction between individualization and adjustment accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
Before allowing a modifier change, the system preliminarily determines the modifier effectiveness value to predict whether the change will be perceptible. This preliminary assessment prevents unnecessary or incorrect adjustments from being applied, ensuring that only potentially effective modifications are permitted, thereby maintaining both individualization capability and adjustment reliability.
2Loss of time
If wrong parameters of the hearing device are adjusted, then fitting time is reduced, but user confidence is lost and device effectiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The modifier effectiveness value provides real-time feedback to both the fitting system and the user about whether adjustments will be perceptible. This feedback mechanism prevents wasted fitting time on ineffective adjustments and maintains user confidence by ensuring that only meaningful changes are made, directly addressing the contradiction between fitting efficiency and user confidence.
3Ease of operation
If the user is allowed to make all modifier changes, then ease of operation is improved, but the risk of mis-tuning increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the degree of input restriction based on the modifier effectiveness value. When effectiveness is high, users have full control freedom; when effectiveness is low, input is restricted. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and tuning accuracy by adjusting control freedom according to the actual effectiveness of potential modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback through the modifier effectiveness value to guide user adjustments. This feedback mechanism maintains user control freedom while preventing mis-tuning by informing users when their adjustments will or will not be perceptible, thus resolving the contradiction between operational ease and tuning reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for fitting a hearing device comprises: receiving an audio signal in the hearing device; providing a user interface for inputting at least one modifier value into the fitting device, the modifier value indicating, how a sound property of the audio signal should be modified by the hearing device; processing the audio signal with a sound processor of the hearing device in dependence of the at least one modifier value, thus providing a processed audio signal; outputting the processed audio signal to a user of the hearing device; determining an modifier effectiveness value based on the audio signal, the modifier effectiveness value indicating how much a change of the at least one modifier value results in a perceptible change of the processed audio signal output to the user; and restricting the inputting of the at least modifier value in dependence of the modifier effectiveness value.