Health monitoring with ear-wearable devices and accessory devices

1. A method of health monitoring, the method comprising:

establishing, by each accessory device in a set of accessory devices, a respective communication link between the accessory device and an ear-wearable device, the respective communication link being: a wireless communication link in which the accessory device receives radio signals generated by the ear-wearable device, an optical communication channel in which the accessory device receives light generated by the ear-wearable device, or an electrical communication channel in which the accessory device receives electrical pulses generated by the ear-wearable device, wherein two or more of the accessory devices are linked concurrently or selectively to the ear-wearable device via the respective communication links;

receiving, by a particular accessory device in the set of accessory devices, first data via the communication link between the particular accessory device and the ear-wearable device, the first data comprising information generated based on sensor signals from sensors that monitor a user of the ear-wearable device; and

performing, by the set of accessory devices, a health monitoring activity based on the first data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the first data comprises receiving, by the particular accessory device, a wireless transmission of the first data from the ear-wearable device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular accessory device is a charging device adapted to recharge a power source of the ear-wearable device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

the communication link between the particular accessory device and the ear-wearable device is a charging device communication link, and

establishing the charging device communication link comprises establishing, by the charging device, the charging device communication link at or during a time that the charging device is recharging the power source of the ear-wearable device.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the charging device performs the health monitoring activity.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the particular accessory device is a first accessory device,

the method further comprises:

generating, by the first accessory device, second data based on the first data;

sending, by the first accessory device, the second data to a second accessory device in the set of accessory devices, and

performing the health monitoring activity comprises performing, by the second accessory device, the health monitoring activity based on the second data.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the method further comprises receiving, by the second accessory device, third data from the ear-wearable device via the communication link between the second accessory device and the ear-wearable device, and

performing the health monitoring activity comprises performing, by the second accessory device, health monitoring activity based on the second data and the third data.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular accessory device is a media streamer device configured to receive media data from a source device and wirelessly stream the media data to the ear-wearable device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular accessory device is a remote-control device configured to wirelessly control the set of ear-wearable devices.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending, by the accessory devices, via a communication network, the first data to a computing device that is configured to provide third data based on the second data to a party other than the user of the ear-wearable device.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending, by the one or more accessory devices in the set of accessory devices, via a communication network, the first data to a computing device;

receiving, by the accessory devices, second data from the computing device, wherein the second data is based on the first data; and

causing, by the accessory devices, the ear-wearable device to generate an audio notification based on the second data.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the accessory devices, that the ear-wearable device is no longer within wireless communication range of any of the accessory devices;

in response to determining that the ear-wearable device is no longer within wireless communication range of any of the accessory devices, triggering, by the accessory devices, a computing device to generate an alert to a party other than the user of the ear-wearable device.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing, by the accessory devices, the ear-wearable device to generate an audio notification related to the user's health.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the set of accessory devices includes a plurality of accessory devices and the communication links between the plurality of accessory devices and the ear-wearable device are wireless communication links;

estimating, by the accessory devices, based on wireless signals emitted by the ear-wearable device and detected by the accessory devices, a location of the ear-wearable device; and

sending, by the accessory devices, navigation information to a computing device, the navigation information indicating the estimated location of the ear-wearable device.

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

one or more of the accessory devices is designed specifically for use as an accessory to the ear-wearable device,

the particular accessory device is designed specifically for use as an accessory to the ear-wearable device, or

each of the accessory devices is designed specifically for use as an accessory to the ear-wearable device.

16. A set of accessory devices comprising:

one or more communication units of each of the accessory devices configured to establish a respective communication link between the accessory device and an ear-wearable device, the respective communication link being: a wireless communication link in which the accessory device receives radio signals generated by the ear-wearable device, an optical communication channel in which the accessory device receives light generated by the ear-wearable device, or an electrical communication channel in which the accessory device receives electrical pulses generated by the ear-wearable device, wherein two or more of the accessory devices are linked concurrently or selectively to the ear-wearable device via the respective communication links;

a particular accessory device in the set of accessory devices configured to receive first data via the communication link between the particular accessory device and the ear-wearable device, the first data comprising information generated based on sensor signals from sensors that monitor a user of the ear-wearable device; and

one or more processors of each of the accessory devices configured to perform a health monitoring activity based on the first data.

17. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the one or more communication units are configured to receive a wireless transmission of the first data from the ear-wearable device.

18. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the particular accessory device is a charging device adapted to recharge a power source of the ear-wearable device.

19. The set of accessory devices of claim 18 , wherein:

the communication link between the particular accessory device and the ear-wearable device is a charging device communication link, and

the one or more communication units are configured to establish the charging device communication link at or during a time that the charging device is recharging the power source of the ear-wearable device.

20. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein:

the one or more processors are configured to generate second data based on the first data, and

the one or more communication units are configured to send the second data to a second accessory device in the set of accessory devices, the second accessory device configured to perform a second health monitoring activity based on the second data.

21. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein:

the one or more communication units are further configured to receive second data from a second accessory device in the set of accessory devices via a communication link between the accessory device and the second accessory device, and

the one or more processors are configured to perform the health monitoring activity based on the first data and the second data.

22. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the particular accessory device is a media streamer device configured to receive media data from a source device and wirelessly stream the media data to the ear-wearable device.

23. The set of accessory devices of claim 22 , wherein the source device is a mobile telephone of the user of the ear-wearable device.

24. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the one or more communication units are configured to send, via a communication network, the first data to a computing device that is configured to provide second data based on the first data to a party other than the user of the ear-wearable device.

25. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein:

the one or more communication units are configured to:

send, via a communication network, the first data to a computing device; and

receive second data from the computing device, wherein the second data is based on the first data; and

the one or more processors are configured to cause the ear-wearable device to generate an audio notification based on the second data.

26. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine that the ear-wearable device is no longer within wireless communication range of any of the accessory devices;

in response to determining that the ear-wearable device is no longer within wireless communication range of any of the accessory devices, trigger a computing device to generate an alert to a party other than the user of the ear-wearable device.

27. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the ear-wearable device to generate an audio notification related to the user's health.

28. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein:

the one or more processors are configured to estimate, based on wireless signals emitted by the ear-wearable device and detected by one or more of the accessory devices, a location of the ear-wearable device; and

the one or more communication units are configured to send navigation information to a computing device, the navigation information indicating the estimated location of the ear-wearable device.

29. The set of accessory devices of claim 16 , wherein one or more of the accessory devices are designed specifically for use as an accessory to the ear-wearable device.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions that cause a set of accessory devices to:

establish, by each accessory device in the set of accessory devices, a respective communication link between the accessory device and an ear-wearable device, the respective communication link being: a wireless communication link in which the accessory device receives radio signals generated by the ear-wearable device, an optical communication channel in which the accessory device receives light generated by the ear-wearable device, or an electrical communication channel in which the accessory device receives electrical pulses generated by the ear-wearable device, wherein two or more of the accessory devices are linked concurrently or selectively to the ear-wearable device via the respective communication links;

receive, by a particular accessory device in the set of accessory devices, first data via the communication link between the particular accessory device and the ear-wearable device, the first data comprising information generated based on sensor signals from sensors that monitor a user of the ear-wearable device; and

perform, by the set of accessory devices, a health monitoring activity based on the first data.