GN Hearing A/S

The present invention relates to an audio device with a housing, a microphone arm and a detector for determining an orientation of the microphone arm relative to the housing. The invention may advantageously be applied in audio devices having a microphone arm, such as headsets, earphones, hearing protectors and other audio devices used for sound pickup. The audio device (1) comprises a housing (2), a microphone arm (3) that is mechanically and movably connected to the housing (2), a microphone unit (4) arranged at or in the microphone arm (3) and configured to pick up sound (5) from the environment of the audio device (1) and provide a corresponding microphone audio signal (M), a signal processor (5) arranged at or in the housing (2) and configured to provide electric power (P) to the microphone unit (4), and a flexible substrate (6) extending in a length direction (L) between a first end (7) mechanically connected to the housing (2) and a second opposite end (8) mechanically connected to the microphone arm (3). The flexible substrate (6) is configured to bend in dependence on the microphone arm (3) moving relative to the housing (2) and comprises one or more electrical conductors (9) electrically connecting the microphone unit (4) and the signal processor (5) to convey the electric power (P) from the signal processor (5) to the microphone unit (4) and/or the microphone audio signal (M) from the microphone unit (4) to the signal processor (5). The flexible substrate (6) further comprises a bend sensor (10) that is configured to change the value of an electric property in dependence on a bending of a first portion (11) of the flexible substrate (6), and the audio device (1) further comprises a bend detector (12) electrically connected to the bend sensor (10) and configured to estimate an orientation (O) of the microphone arm (3) relative to the housing (2) in dependence on the value of the electric property of the bend sensor (10). Arranging the bend sensor (10) at or in the flexible substrate (6) may provide a both reliable and cost-effective estimation of the orientation (O) of the microphone arm (43).

An audio system (1) comprising an audio device (10) and a charging cradle (20) for storing the audio device (10). The charging cradle (20) comprises a cradle housing (200) with a device bay (201), a status detector (202), a cradle input interface (203), a rechargeable battery (204), and a cradle controller (205). The device bay (201) is configured to accommodate the audio device (10) when the audio device (10) is stored in the charging cradle (20). The status detector (202) is configured to detect whether the audio device (10) is stored in the charging cradle (20), determine a corresponding storing status, and provide the determined storing status in a cradle status signal (CS) to the cradle controller (205). The cradle input interface (203) is configured to detect user input actions and provide indications of detected user input actions in a cradle input signal (UC) to the cradle controller (205). The rechargeable battery (204) is configured to receive electric energy from an external energy source, store the received electrical energy, and provide stored electric energy (P) to the audio device (10) through the cradle controller (205) and/or the device bay (201). In the audio system (1), the cradle controller (205) is configured to provide a user output signal (UO) comprising an indication of control commands in response to receiving indications of detected user input actions in the cradle input signal (UC) and/or in dependence on the cradle status signal (CS), such that, for identical indicated user input actions, the control command indication in the user output signal (UO) differs for different storing status indications in the cradle status signal (CS). This enables using the controls of the cradle input interface (203) for different purposes, depending on whether the audio device (10) is stored in the charging cradle (20), and may thereby reduce the number of user controls required on the audio device (10) and/or the charging cradle (20).

A hearing device and related methods are disclosed, the hearing device comprising an interface and one or more processors, the one or more processors comprising a first primary machine learning model and a first secondary machine learning model, the first primary machine learning model for provision of a first primary model output based on a first primary model input, the first secondary machine learning model for provision of a first secondary model output based on a first secondary model input, wherein the first secondary model input is based on the first primary model output.

Disclosed is a hearing device. The hearing device comprises a telecoil for communication in a first frequency band; a wireless communication device for communication in a second frequency band; and a printed circuit board, (PCB), comprising at least one conductive layer and at least one dielectric layer. The telecoil is arranged in a first section of the PCB and the wireless communication device is arranged in a second section of the PCB. The conductive layer comprises a first conductive trace provided in the first section of the PCB and a second conductive trace provided in the second section of the PCB. Further disclosed is a method of manufacturing a hearing device

A method of head-tracking of a subject in a hearing system comprising a first hearing device and a second hearing device is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining, from a first accelerometer of the first hearing device, first accelerometer data. The method comprises obtaining, from a second accelerometer of the second hearing device, second accelerometer data. The method comprises determining a head parameter indicative of position and/or movement of the head of the subject based on the first accelerometer data and the second accelerometer data. The method comprises providing an output indicative of the head parameter.

Disclosed is a hearing device comprising an input transducer configured to be arranged in an ear canal of a user and to provide an input signal. The hearing device further comprises a signal processing unit configured to receive the input signal from the input transducer and to generate a processed signal. The signal processing unit comprises an adaptive feedback filter characterized by its filter coefficients. The filter coefficients are configured to change in response to changes of the input signal. The signal processing unit is configured to monitor the filter coefficients. The signal processing unit is also configured to determine a state of the hearing device based on a threshold and the filter coefficients.

A computer-implemented method (300) for continuously assessing a hearing device setting used in a hearing device (102) is disclosed. The hearing device (102) comprises a housing (104), a control circuitry (800) comprising a processing unit (802) and a memory (804), a first and a second microphone (806, 808), and a speaker (810). The method (300) comprises capturing (302) a first input signal using the first microphone (806), generating (306) first sound processor audio data by processing the first input signal using a first sound processor (820), , generating (314) second sound processor audio data by processing the first input signal using a second sound processor (822), and determining (316) whether the first sound processor audio data or the second sound processor audio data performs better based on a comparison of an objective measure.

A hearing system and related methods are disclosed, the hearing system comprising a hearing device and an accessory device, the hearing device comprising a first interface and one or more processors comprising a first primary machine learning model for provision of a first primary model output based on a first primary model input, the accessory device comprising a second interface and one or more processors comprising a second machine learning model for provision of a second model output based on a second model input, wherein the accessory device is configured to transmit, via the second interface, a first accessory device output based on the second model output, and wherein the hearing device is configured to receive, via the first interface, the first accessory device output, and wherein the first primary model input is based on the first accessory device output.

A faceplate insert module (11) for a customized hearing device (50) is devised. The faceplate insert module (11) comprises a faceplate insert (4) holding a connector (3), and an acoustic output transducer module (25) comprising an acoustic output transducer (20), a biometric sensor module (24), a MaRIE microphone (18) and an AOC microphone (16) mounted on respective sides of the acoustic output transducer (20). The faceplate insert module (11) is embodied as a pre-assembled, standardized unit configured to be detachably mounted in an opening (5) of a faceplate (2) configured to be mounted on, or be an integral part of, a custom-shaped shell (6) in such a way that the output transducer module (25) protrudes through the opening (5), thereby forming an in-the-ear part (1) of a customized hearing device (50). The connector (3) of the faceplate insert module (11) carries a conduit (8) comprising a plurality of wires for conveying electrical signals between the in-the-ear part (1) and a behind-the-ear part (30) of the customized hearing device (50). The standardized faceplate insert module (11) facilitates a fast and easy assembly of the customized in-the-ear part (1) of the hearing device (50).

Disclosed is a system for creating a spatial model of a room comprising a plurality of audio and / or video devices. The system comprises a first device and a second device, the first device being a video device capable of capturing a stream of images of the room and the second device being an audio and/or video device. The system comprises one or more processing units configured to: obtaining a first image captured by the first device; and creating a spatial model of the room by processing the first image to identify the second device and estimate the location of the second device in the room.