Own Voice Audio Processing for Hearing Loss Compensation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hearing aids amplify both the user's own voice and ambient sounds equally, leading to an unnatural perception of the user's own voice, which affects voice control during conversations.
Innovation Solution
The technology distinguishes between own voice and ambient sounds using own voice activity detection, applying different loudness compensation based on psychoacoustic loudness growth functions and attenuating ambient sound frequencies when both coexist.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hearing aids amplify both own voice and ambient sounds equally, then hearing loss compensation is achieved, but the natural perception of own voice is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The audio signal is segmented into different components: own voice signals and ambient sound signals. The system processes these segments differently by applying distinct gain values - higher gain for own voice to compensate for hearing loss while maintaining natural perception, and separate gain for ambient sounds. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing selective amplification rather than uniform amplification of all audio components.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality parameters are applied locally to different audio components. The own voice component receives specific processing characteristics including enhanced gain and natural perception optimization, while ambient sounds receive different processing. This local differentiation allows the system to maintain hearing loss compensation effectiveness while preserving the natural quality of own voice perception.
2Ease of manufacture
If own voice activity detection is implemented, then natural perception of own voice is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback through own voice activity detection that continuously monitors the audio signal to identify when the user's own voice is present. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic adjustment of processing parameters - applying enhanced gain and natural perception optimization only during own voice detection events. The feedback loop allows the complex processing to be activated selectively rather than continuously, managing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio processing system transitions from static uniform amplification to dynamic selective amplification. The system dynamically adjusts processing characteristics based on real-time detection of own voice presence, switching between different processing modes. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain simplicity during ambient sound processing while activating enhanced processing only when needed for own voice scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject technology relate to a device including a microphone and a processor. The processor receives an audio signal corresponding to the microphone. The processor detects one or more of an ambient sound or a voice of a user of the device in the received audio signal. The processor applies a first gain to the ambient sound when the ambient sound is detected in the received audio signal and apply a second gain different than the first gain to the voice of the user of the device when the voice of the user of the device is detected in the received audio signal.