Granted Patent B2

US 12,659,675 · App. 18/316,563 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Kenneth Jensen (Brunswick, MD); Justin Burwinkel (Eden Prairie, MN); Thomas Olai Monsen (Chaska, MN); Eric George (Bloomington, MN)

Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.

H04R25/507G06N20/00H04R25/554H04R2225/43H04R2225/55

Abstract

Claims (65)

1 . A method comprising:

obtaining, by a processing system that includes one or more processors implemented in circuitry, a signal from a magnetic sensor of a hearing instrument;

determining, by the processing system, a context of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor;

initiating, by the processing system, one or more first actions based on the context of the hearing instrument;

determining, by the processing system, an activity of a user of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor; and

initiating, by the processing system, one or more second actions based on the activity of the user of the hearing instrument.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the context of the hearing instrument comprises determining, by the processing system, based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the one or more first actions includes adjusting noise reduction settings of the hearing instrument.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the one or more first actions includes adjusting speech enhancement settings of the hearing instrument.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the activity of the user comprises applying a machine learning model that determines the activity of the user based at least in part on data representing the signal from the magnetic sensor.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the activity of the user comprises:

determining, by the processing system, based at least in part on the data representing the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument; and

determining, by the processing system, the activity of the user based on the type of electronic device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the one or more second actions based on the activity of the user of the hearing instrument comprises updating, by the processing system, a to-do list for the user to indicate completion of the activity.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the method further comprises detecting, by the processing system, based on the signal from the magnetic sensor, that the user is in a vicinity of an electrical loop embedded in a walking area; and

initiating the one or more second actions comprises: based on the user being in the vicinity of the electrical loop embedded in the walking area and the activity of the user being walking, initiating, by the processing system, the one or more second actions, wherein the one or more second actions guide the user along the walking area.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining magnetic sensor signals and corresponding microphone signals;

using the magnetic sensor signals and the corresponding microphone signals to train a machine learning model to generate modified microphone signals that resemble the magnetic sensor signals;

obtaining a new microphone signal;

applying the machine learning model to the new microphone signal to generate a new modified microphone signal; and

outputting sound based on the new modified microphone signal.

10 . A system comprising:

one or more storage devices configured to store a signal from a magnetic sensor of a hearing instrument; and

a processing system comprising one or more processors configured to:

determine a context of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor; and

initiate one or more first actions based on the context of the hearing instrument;

determine an activity of a user of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor; and

initiate one or more second actions based on the activity of the hearing instrument.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processing system is configured to determine the context of the hearing instrument comprises determining, by the processing system, based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more first actions include adjusting noise reduction settings of the hearing instrument.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more first actions include adjusting speech enhancement settings of the hearing instrument.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processing system is configured to, as part of determining the activity of the user, apply a machine learning model that determines the activity of the user based at least in part on data representing the signal from the magnetic sensor.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processing system is configured to, as part of determining the activity of the user:

determine, based at least in part on the data representing the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument; and

determine the activity of the user based on the type of electronic device.

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processing system is configured to, as part of initiating the one or more second actions based on the activity of the user of the hearing instrument, update a to-do list for the user to indicate completion of the activity.

17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:

detect, based on the signal from the magnetic sensor, that the user is in a vicinity of an electrical loop embedded in a walking area; and

based on the user being in the vicinity of the electrical loop embedded in the walking area and the activity of the user being walking, initiate the one or more second actions, wherein the one or more second actions guide the user along the walking area.

18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:

the one or more storage devices are further configured to store magnetic sensor signals and corresponding microphone signals; and

the processing system is further configured to:

use the magnetic sensor signals and the corresponding microphone signals to train a machine learning model to generate modified microphone signals that resemble the magnetic sensor signals;

obtain a new microphone signal;

apply the machine learning model to the new microphone signal to generate a new modified microphone signal; and

output sound based on the new modified microphone signal.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the context of the hearing instrument is one of a plurality of contexts, each of which corresponds to a different unique combination of potential values of a plurality of context parameters.

20 . A method comprising:

obtaining, by a processing system that includes one or more processors implemented in circuitry, a signal from a magnetic sensor of a hearing instrument;

determining, by the processing system, a context of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, wherein determining the context of the hearing instrument comprises determining, by the processing system, based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument; and

initiating, by the processing system, one or more actions based on the context of the hearing instrument.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein initiating the one or more actions includes one or more of:

adjusting noise reduction settings of the hearing instrument, or

adjusting speech enhancement settings of the hearing instrument.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the context of the hearing instrument is one of a plurality of contexts, each of which corresponds to a different unique combination of potential values of a plurality of context parameters.

23 . A system comprising:

one or more storage devices configured to store a signal from a magnetic sensor of a hearing instrument; and

a processing system comprising one or more processors configured to:

determine a context of the hearing instrument based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, where as part of determining the context of the hearing instrument, the processing system is configured to determine, based at least in part on the signal from the magnetic sensor, a type of electronic device used in a vicinity of the hearing instrument; and

initiate one or more actions based on the context of the hearing instrument.

24 . The system of claim 23 , wherein the one or more actions include one or more of:

adjusting noise reduction settings of the hearing instrument, or

adjusting speech enhancement settings of the hearing instrument.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (12)