Gait stabilizing with hearing device

1 . A method for stabilizing a gait of a user wearing a hearing device, the method comprising:

sensing an audio signal with a microphone of the hearing device;

modifying the audio signal with the hearing device into a modified audio signal;

sensing a movement signal of the user with a movement sensor of the hearing device;

determining at least one of a step signal indicative of a timing of steps of the user or a sway signal of the user indicative of a sway of the user over time from the movement signal;

predicting a future step signal from the step signal, the future step signal indicative of at least one of a timing of one or more future steps of the user or a future sway signal from the sway signal, the future sway signal indicative of a sway of the user over a future time;

triggering a cue signal depending on at least one of the future step signal or the future sway signal, such that the cue signal has a timing to cause the user to initiate a next step to stabilize the gait of the user;

generating an output cue to be output to the user, the output cue comprising an acoustic cue;

adding the acoustic cue to the audio signal or the modified audio signal at the timing of the cue signal;

outputting the modified audio signal with the added acoustic cue with a sound output device of the hearing device to the user, wherein a level of the acoustic cue is set based on a noise level in at least one of the audio signal or the modified audio signal, such that the acoustic cue is imperceptible by the user but a stimulation of the user takes place due to stochastic resonance.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing at least one of the step signal or the sway signal to determine a fall risk of the user;

wherein at least one of a level of the output cue or a type of the output cue is chosen depending on the fall risk.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of:

the cue signal is triggered at a time offset with respect to a reference time point of at least one of the future step signal or the future sway signal; or

at least one of a level of the output cue or a type of the output cue is chosen depending on at least one of a change of the reference time point in the future step signal or the future sway signal.

4 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein at least one of the future step signal or the future sway signal is determined from the step signal or the sway signal with at least one of a zeroth order predictor and a first order predictor.

5 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein at least one of a level of the output cue or a type of the output cue is adjustable depending on a selectable offset defining a perceptibility of the output cue in the modified audio signal.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining at least one of a characteristic of the sensed audio signal or modified audio signal before the adding of the acoustic cue;

wherein the selectable offset is selected depending on the characteristic.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at least one of a type of physical activity or a user location from at least one of the audio signal, the movement signal, the step signal, or and/or the sway signal;

wherein at least one of a level of the output cue or a type of the output cue is chosen depending on at least one of the type of physical activity or the user location.

8 . The method of claim 7 ,

wherein at least one of the level of the output cue or the type of the output cue is configurable with respect to at least one of the type of physical activity or a user location.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

choosing a dominant frequency of the acoustic cue depending on a spectral analysis of the audio signal.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating an output cue for each ear of the user;

determining a relative level between the output cues for the ears depending on at least one of a step side or a direction of sway.

11 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the output cue further comprises an electric cue for stimulating an ear channel of the user at the timing of the cue signal;

wherein the electric cue is output to the user with an electrode of the hearing device.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a relative level of stimulation between the acoustic cue and the electric cue depending on a classification of environmental sound in the audio signal;

setting a level of the acoustic cue and the electric cue depending on the relative level.

13 . A hearing device, comprising:

a microphone for sensing an audio signal;

a movement sensor for sensing a movement signal of a user;

a sound output device;

a processor for:

modifying the audio signal into a modified audio signal;

determining at least one of a step signal indicative of a timing of steps of the user or a sway signal of the user indicative of a sway of the user over time from the movement signal;

predicting a future step signal from the step signal, the future step signal indicative of at least one of a timing of one or more future steps of the user or a future sway signal from the sway signal, the future sway signal indicative of a sway of the user over a future time;

triggering a cue signal depending on at least one of the future step signal or the future sway signal, such that the cue signal has a timing to cause the user to initiate a next step to stabilize a gait of the user;

generating an output cue to be output to the user, the output cue comprising an acoustic cue;

adding the acoustic cue to the audio signal or the modified audio signal at the timing of the cue signal;

outputting the modified audio signal with the added acoustic cue with the sound output device to the user, wherein a level of the acoustic cue is set based on a noise level in at least one of the audio signal or the modified audio signal, such that the acoustic cue is imperceptible by the user but a stimulation of the user takes place due to stochastic resonance.