Apparatus and method for reverberation mitigation in a hearing device
A reverberation condition is detected affecting an electronic hearing device. The hearing device receives sound from a microphone and provides amplified sound to an in-ear receiver. The reverberation condition is predicted to impact clarity of the amplified sound. A sound processing capability is determined that will affect the reverberation. The sound processing capability is applied to the amplified sound and includes one or more of expansion, compression, and directionality processing. In response to detecting the reverberation condition, at least one of the following is performed: enabling the sound processing capability with a reverberation mitigation setting if the sound processing capability is currently disabled; or changing the sound processing capability to the reverberation mitigation setting from a default setting if the sound processing capability is currently enabled. The reverberation mitigation setting is removed when the reverberation condition is no longer detected.
1. A method comprising:
detecting a reverberation condition affecting an electronic hearing device that receives sound from a microphone and provides amplified sound to an in-ear receiver, the reverberation condition predicted to impact clarity of the amplified sound;
determining a sound processing capability that will affect the reverberation, the sound processing capability applied to the amplified sound and comprising one or more of expansion processing, compression processing, and directionality processing;
in response to detecting the reverberation condition, performing at least one of enabling the sound processing capability with a reverberation mitigation setting if the sound processing capability is currently disabled or changing the sound processing capability to the reverberation mitigation setting from a default setting if the sound processing capability is currently enabled; and
removing the reverberation mitigation setting when the reverberation condition is no longer detected.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises at least one of an attack time and a release time used in the expansion processing that are lower than default values.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises an expansion ratio used in the expansion processing that is higher than a default value.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises a threshold kneepoint used in the expansion processing is higher than a default value.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the expansion processing, and the reverberation mitigation setting limits the expansion processing to a low to mid frequency range.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the low to mid frequency range comprises 200-1200 Hz.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the compression processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises a compression release time that is higher than a default value.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound processing capability comprises the directionality processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting sets the directionality processing to fixed directional.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic hearing device is further configured for digital noise reduction of the amplified sound, and wherein the reverberation mitigation further comprises disabling the digital noise reduction or reducing an amount of the digital noise reduction applied to the amplified sound.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the reverberation condition comprises using automatic environmental classification.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the reverberation condition comprises detecting a location of the electronic hearing device and determining that the location is a reverberant environment.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the reverberation condition comprises receiving an Internet-supplied hearing parameter that indicates the reverberation condition.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the reverberation condition comprises receiving a user input that indicates the reverberation condition.
14. A hearing device comprising:
an input processing path that receives an audio input signal from a microphone;
an output processing path that provides an audio output signal to a loudspeaker; and
a sound processor coupled between the input processing path and the output processing path, the sound processor comprising one or more of expansion processing, compression processing, directionality processing, and digital noise reduction, wherein the hearing device is configured to perform:
detecting a reverberation condition affecting the hearing device and predicted to impact clarity of the audio output signal;
in response to detecting the reverberation condition, applying a reverberation mitigation setting to the sound processor, the reverberation mitigation setting different a default setting that optimizes the audio output signal for a user of the hearing device; and
removing the reverberation mitigation setting when the reverberation condition is no longer detected.
15. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises at least one of an attack time and a release time used in the expansion processing that are lower than default values.
16. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises an expansion ratio used in the expansion processing that is higher than a default value.
17. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises the expansion processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises a threshold kneepoint used in the expansion processing is higher than a default value.
18. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises the expansion processing, and the reverberation mitigation setting limits the expansion processing to a low to mid frequency range.
19. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises the compression processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting comprises a compression release time that is higher than a default value.
20. The hearing device of claim 14 , wherein the sound processor comprises directionality processing, and wherein the reverberation mitigation setting sets the directionality processing to fixed directional.