METHOD FOR OPERATING A HEARING AID AND SYSTEM HAVING THE HEARING AID

Abstract

A method operates a hearing aid. At least one sensor signal is generated by at least one sensor of the hearing aid or at least one sensor of an auxiliary apparatus that can be associated with the hearing aid. At least one first piece of weather information is provided by a communications unit. A usage state of the hearing aid and/or an operating environment of the hearing aid is estimated on the basis of the first piece of weather information and on the basis of the sensor signal. The at least one operating parameter of the hearing aid is adjusted on the basis of the estimated usage state or the estimated operating environment.

Claims

1. A method for operating a hearing aid, which comprises the steps of: generating, via at least one sensor of the hearing aid and/or at least one sensor of an auxiliary apparatus associable with the hearing aid, at least one sensor signal; using a communication unit to provide first weather information; taking the first weather information and the at least one sensor signal as a basis for gauging a state of use of the hearing aid and/or an operating environment of the hearing aid; and taking a gauged state of use, or a gauged operating environment as a basis for setting at least one operating parameter of the hearing aid.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor of the hearing aid or of the auxiliary apparatus associable with the hearing aid is a temperature sensor, the method further comprises: determining a first temperature; and outputting a corresponding temperature signal as the at least one sensor signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, which further comprises: generating, via the at least one sensor of the hearing aid, at least one audio signal as the at least one sensor signal, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one electroacoustic input transducer, and the at least one audio signal is taken as a basis for analyzing wind noise; and gauging the state of use of the hearing aid and/or the operating environment of the hearing aid on a basis of the first weather information and on a basis of the wind noise analyzed.

4. The method according to claim 3, which further comprises carrying out a position determination for the hearing aid in order to provide the first weather information.

5. The method according to claim 2, which further comprises: using a motion sensor of the hearing aid and/or a motion sensor of the auxiliary apparatus associable with the hearing aid to identify movement by a wearer of the hearing aid; and using identified movement for assessing the state of use of the hearing aid and/or the operating environment of the hearing aid.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first weather information is provided by means of a connection from the communication unit to a weather server equipped for outputting weather information.

7. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises: using the communication unit to provide a time-resolved weather forecast; ascertaining a current time; and providing the first weather information on a basis of the time-resolved weather forecast and the current time.

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein: the state of use is gauged in respect of wearing the hearing aid on a body and/or in respect of using the hearing aid during a sports activity; and/or the operating environment is gauged in respect of operating the hearing aid in open air or in an enclosed space.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the state of use and/or the operating environment of the hearing aid is assessed on a basis of a comparison of the first temperature and the wind noise with the first weather information for the position determined for the hearing aid in due consideration of identified movement by a wearer of the hearing aid.

10. The method according to claim 2, which further comprises: determining, via the temperature sensor of the hearing aid or of the auxiliary apparatus associable with the hearing aid, a second temperature, and the first temperature and the second temperature are taken as a basis for detecting a temperature change; and taking the first weather information and the temperature change as a basis for assessing a change in the state of use and/or a change in the operating environment of the hearing aid.

11. The method according to claim 3, which further comprises taking a change in the wind noise as a basis for assessing a change in the operating environment of the hearing aid.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a signal processing parameter of an audio signal of the hearing aid is set as the at least one operating parameter of the hearing aid.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein an assessed change in the operating environment is taken as a basis for reducing at least one time constant of signal processing.

14. A system, comprising: a hearing aid; at least one sensor for generating a sensor signal; and a communication unit equipped for providing first weather information, wherein the system is equipped for carrying out the method according to claim 1.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said communication unit is implemented on a cell phone and/or a smartwatch and/or a tablet PC.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

[0040] The FIGURE of the drawing shows a system having a hearing device and a cell phone for setting parameters of the signal processing of the hearing device on the basis of weather information provided by way of the cell phone according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] Referring now to the FIGURE of the drawing in detail, there is shown schematically a system 1 containing a hearing aid 2 and an auxiliary apparatus 3 having a communication unit 4. In the present case, the hearing aid 2 is in the form of a hearing device 6 that is intended and equipped to be worn on the ear of a wearer (not shown) for operation. In the system 1 shown in the FIGURE, the communication unit 4 is implemented on a cell phone 8 (a smartphone) as the auxiliary apparatus 3, an implementation on a tablet PC or a smartwatch likewise being possible. The hearing device 6 is intended and equipped for looking after a hearing impairment of its wearer and, for this purpose, has a first electroacoustic input transducer 10 and a second electroacoustic input transducer 12, which each convert ambient sound into a corresponding first, or second, audio signal 14, 16, and in the present case are each provided by a microphone. A configuration of the hearing device 6 with only one electroacoustic input transducer and only one corresponding audio signal is likewise possible.

[0042] The first audio signal 14 and the second audio signal 16 are supplied to a signal processing unit 18 in which an output signal 20 is generated on the basis of the first audio signal 14 and the second audio signal 16 by way of an appropriate signal processing, in particular in due consideration of the hearing impairment of the wearer of the hearing device 6. The output signal 20 is converted by an electroacoustic output transducer 22, provided in the present case by a loudspeaker, into an output sound signal 24 that is supplied to the ear of the wearer (not shown) during operation.

[0043] In order to be able to achieve as advantageous a signal processing as possible (and for example to be able to reject disturbing sounds as effectively as possible) for a hearing situation, that is to say for a specific environment of the wearer with its applicable useful signal sources and disturbing sounds, appropriate identification of such a hearing situation on the basis of the first audio signal 14 and the second audio signal 16 normally takes place in the signal processing unit 18. On the basis of the identified hearing situation, parameters for the signal processing taking place in the signal processing unit 18 are then set in order to generate the output signal 20. Identifying the hearing situation merely on the basis of the two audio signals 14, 16 does not lead to completely satisfactory results in some cases, however. By way of example, reverberation, as often occurs in enclosed spaces, in particular with bare walls, is not easy to identify when there is a noise background, which may come from disturbing sound sources. Additionally, even if a hearing situation is identified correctly per se, the case may arise in which the settings of the signal processing that are chosen therefor are not ideal for other reasons, for example in the case of a sports activity by the wearer of the hearing device 6, where improved spatial hearing is often more important than the best possible directional noise rejection.

[0044] For better performance in such situations, the system 1 has provision, as is yet to be described, for using weather information that can be taken as a basis for setting parameters of the signal processing. To put it in simple terms, a sensor 30 arranged in the hearing device 6 is used to measure a physical, or climatic, variable of the environment, and a sensor signal 32 generated in the process or a variable or information derived therefrom is compared with first weather information 34 provided by the communication unit 4. The or a further sensor 30 may also be arranged in the auxiliary apparatus 3 (not shown). This comparison and possibly further information may now be taken as a basis for assessing in particular whether the wearer of the hearing device 6 is in an enclosed space or in the open air, whether he is wearing the hearing device 6 on his ear for operation, or has removed it for a break in operation, or whether he is engaged in sports activity (while the hearing device 6 is being operated).

[0045] The sensor 30 arranged in the hearing device 6 for this purpose is first a temperature sensor 36, which generates, as sensor signal 32, a temperature signal 38 that is supplied to the signal processing unit 18. In this arrangement, the signal processing unit 18 is equipped for processing the two audio signals 14, 16 to produce the output signal 20 on the basis of the sensor signal 32 and the first weather information 34, in particular by way of one or more processor units, one or more main memory modules, at least one nonvolatile memory for storing operationally relevant functions and presets, etc. In the present case, the sensors 30 also include the first electroacoustic input transducer 10 and the second electroacoustic input transducer 12, which means that the first and second audio signals 14, 16 are used as sensor signals 32 for comparison against the first weather information 34 in the signal processing unit 18. For this purpose, the first and second input signals 14, 16 may be taken as a basis for identifying wind noise in the immediate environment of the hearing device 6.

[0046] A further sensor 30 arranged in the hearing device 6 is moreover a motion sensor, which is in the form of an acceleration sensor 40 in the present case and which is equipped for sensing movement by the wearer of the hearing device 6 and outputs a corresponding movement signal 42 to the signal processing unit 18 as sensor signal 32. A possible alternative to the acceleration sensor 40 may in particular also be provided by a gyroscope or another sensor suitable for sensing movement. The movement signal 42 may contain information in respect of a three-dimensional movement in this case, or may merely reproduce the absolute value of a recorded acceleration, or movement. In particular if the communication unit 4 is implemented on a smartwatch as auxiliary apparatus, the motion sensor may also be arranged on the smartwatch, since the latter is worn by the wearer largely constantly on his body, just like the hearing device, which means that a corresponding movement signal 42 is sufficiently informative.

[0047] The cell phone 8 now uses an antenna 44 to make an Internet connection 46 that is used to connect the cell phone 8 to a server 48. In the present case, the server 48 is in the form of a weather server on which a weather information service 50 is implemented. The cell phone 8 now uses the Internet connection 46 to send a request 52 to the server 48, which request may in particular contain a current position of the cell phone 8. The position may have been captured by the cell phone 8 itself, for example by means of GPS. The weather information service 50 is used to transmit the first weather information 34 for the current position of the cell phone 8 to same by way of the Internet connections 46, and said information is buffer-stored in the cell phone 8. The first weather information 34 includes in particular current temperature information 54 and also current wind information 56. Further information, for example relating to the air humidity and/or relating to the current amount of precipitation and/or relating to the current air pressure at the location of the cell phone 8, may likewise be included in the first weather information 34.

[0048] The first weather information 34 is transmitted from the memory 58 of the cell phone 8 to the hearing device 6, for example by way of a Bluetooth connection 60, preferably as promptly as possible. The first weather information 34 is now compared in the signal processing unit 18 with the sensor signals 32, that is to say the temperature signal 38 and the movement signal 42, and the information relating to wind noise that is obtained from the first and second audio signals 14, 16, and this is taken as a basis for inferring an operating environment and/or a state of use of the hearing device 6, and also for setting an operating parameter of the hearing device 6 as appropriate.

[0049] The following scenarios may arise, inter alia:

[0050] The temperature sensor 36 records a drop in temperature while the acceleration sensor 40 detects physical activity by the wearer. The current time is provided as January 1, and Erlangen in Germany is detected as a current position. According to the temperature information 54 of the first weather information 34, the outside temperature is −2° C., for example. This leads to the assumption that the wearer has left an enclosed space and has gone into the open air (new operating environment: open space). The signal processing can now be adjusted for use of the hearing device 6 in the open air, for example by temporarily lowering in particular time constants of adaptive algorithms, in order to attain convergence for changed settings of the hearing device 6 as quickly as possible and accordingly to reduce the transition time for the wearer if possible.

[0051] The temperature sensor 36 records a drop in temperature while the acceleration sensor 40 detects no significant physical activity by the wearer. For the identical time and location to under 1., an outside temperature of −2° C. is again provided in the first weather information 34. This leads to the assumption that the wearer has removed the hearing device 6, and accordingly operation with all of the operating functions is no longer required. Accordingly, the hearing device 6 may be put into an inactive operating mode or standby mode.

[0052] The temperature sensor 36 records a rise in temperature while the acceleration sensor 40 records physical activity by the wearer. The time is January 1 and the current position of the system 1 is detected by way of the communication unit 4 as Singapore. Accordingly, the temperature information 54 of the first weather information 34 states that there is an outside temperature of 28° C. This leads to the assumption that the wearer of the hearing device 6 has gone from an enclosed space into the open air.

[0053] The temperature sensor 36 records a rise in temperature while the acceleration sensor 40 records significant physical activity by the wearer of the hearing device 6. The current time is e.g. May 20, and Erlangen in Germany is detected as the current position of the system 1. According to the temperature information 54, the outside temperature is 20° C., for example. This leads to the assumption that the wearer of the hearing device 6 is currently engaged in sports activity, which means that the signal processing of the hearing device can be adjusted in an appropriate manner (for example by reducing the directionality of noise rejection by means of directional microphones).

[0054] These are only some illustrative scenarios for how the aforementioned information may be used to infer an operating environment and/or a state of use of the hearing device 6.

[0055] In particular, comparison of the wind information 56 in the first weather information 34 against information relating to wind noise, as may be obtained from the first audio signal 14 and the second audio signal 16, additionally allows operation of the hearing device 6 in the open air to be inferred (if there is concordance for the presence of wind), or allows sports activity to be inferred (if there is wind noise that should not occur according to the wind information 56, in particular in conjunction with physical activity recorded by the acceleration sensor 40).

[0056] Although the invention has been illustrated and described more thoroughly in detail by way of the preferred exemplary embodiment, the invention is not restricted by this exemplary embodiment. Other variations may be derived therefrom by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

[0057] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0058] 1 system [0059] 2 hearing aid [0060] 3 auxiliary apparatus [0061] 4 communication unit [0062] 6 hearing device [0063] 8 cell phone [0064] 10 first electroacoustic input transducer [0065] 12 second electroacoustic input transducer [0066] 14 first audio signal [0067] 16 second audio signal [0068] 18 signal processing unit [0069] 20 output signal [0070] 22 electroacoustic output transducer [0071] 24 output sound signal [0072] 30 sensor [0073] 32 sensor signal [0074] 34 first weather information [0075] 36 temperature sensor [0076] 38 temperature signal [0077] 40 acceleration sensor [0078] 42 movement signal [0079] 44 antenna [0080] 46 Internet connection [0081] 48 server [0082] 50 weather information service [0083] 52 request [0084] 54 temperature information [0085] 56 wind information [0086] 58 memory [0087] 60 Bluetooth connection