Granted Patent B2

US 12,309,554 · App. 17/663,607 · Granted May 20, 2025

Inventors: Jingjing Xu (Eden Prairie, MN); Justin Burwinkel (Eden Prairie, MN)

Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.

H04R25/658H04R2225/0216H04R2225/77

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A method comprising:

capturing, via one or more sensors of a computing system, a representation of an ear of a user, wherein capturing the representation includes:

outputting, for display at a display device, live image data captured by an image sensor of the one or more sensors of the computing system;

outputting, by the computing system and for display at the display device, one or more graphical guides configured to assist the user in facilitating the capture of the representation of the ear of the user, wherein the one or more graphical guides are output for display on the live image data; and

capturing, while the live image data and the graphical guides are being displayed by the display device, the representation of the ear of the user via at least the image sensor;

determining, based on the representation, a value of a measurement of the ear of the user; and

selecting, based on the value of the measurement, a length of a wire or tube of a hearing instrument to be worn on the ear of the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the ear comprises an image of the ear of the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the representation of the ear comprises multiple images of the ear of the user.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the multiple images each have different capture characteristics.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement is a distance between a superior auricular root of the ear and a top of a canal of the ear.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, based on the representation of the ear, a skin tone of a skin of the user; and

selecting, based on the determined skin tone of the skin of the user, a color of the the wire or tube of the hearing instrument.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein selecting the color of the wire or tube of the hearing instrument comprises selecting the color of the wire or tube of the hearing instrument from a pre-determined set of colors.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

outputting, by the computing system and to a remote server device, an indication of the selected color of the wire or tube of the hearing instrument.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

outputting, by the computing system and to a remote server device, an indication of the selected length of the wire or tube of the hearing instrument.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more graphical guides include one or more of:

a graphical representation of the ear;

anatomy markers; and

a graphical representation of the hearing instrument.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display device is included in the same device as the one or more sensors.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display device is included a different device than the one or more sensors.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of:

one or more depth sensors;

one or more structured light sensors; and

one or more time of flight sensors.

14. A computing system comprising;

one or more sensors; and

one or more processors that are implemented in circuitry and configured to:

capture, via the one or more sensors, a representation of an ear of a user, wherein to capture the representation of the ear, the one or more processors are configured to:

output, for display at a display device, live image data captured by an image sensor of the one or more sensors of the computing system;

output, for display at the display device, one or more graphical guides configured to assist the user in facilitating the capture of the representation of the ear of the user, wherein the one or more graphical guides are output for display on the live image data; and

capture, while the live image data and the graphical guides are being displayed by the display device, the representation of the ear of the user via at least the image sensor;

determine, based on the representation, a value of a measurement of the ear of the user; and

select, based on the value of the measurement, a length of a wire or tube of a hearing instrument to be worn on the ear of the user.

15. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the representation of the ear comprises an image of the ear of the user, and wherein the measurement is a distance between a superior auricular root of the ear and a top of a canal of the ear.

16. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine, based on the representation of the ear, a skin tone of a skin of the user; and

select, based on the determined skin tone of the skin of the user, a color of the wire or tube of the hearing instrument.

17. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more graphical guides include one or more of:

a graphical representation of the ear;

anatomy markers; and

a graphical representation of the hearing instrument.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a computing system to:

capture, via one or more sensors of the computing system, a representation of an ear of a user, wherein to capture the representation, the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

output, for display at a display device, live image data captured by an image sensor of the one or more sensors of the computing system;

output, for display at the display device, one or more graphical guides configured to assist the user in facilitating the capture of the representation of the ear of the user, wherein the one or more graphical guides are output for display on the live image data; and

capture, while the live image data and the graphical guides are being displayed by the display device, the representation of the ear of the user via at least the image sensor;

determine, based on the representation, a value of a measurement of the ear of the user; and

select, based on the value of the measurement, a length of a wire or tube of a hearing instrument to be worn on the ear of the user.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (27)