Patents by Inventor Nicola Hildebrand

Nicola Hildebrand has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11558702
    Abstract: A method for fitting a hearing device comprises: receiving an audio signal in the hearing device; providing a user interface for inputting at least one modifier value into the fitting device, the modifier value indicating, how a sound property of the audio signal should be modified by the hearing device; processing the audio signal with a sound processor of the hearing device in dependence of the at least one modifier value, thus providing a processed audio signal; outputting the processed audio signal to a user of the hearing device; determining an modifier effectiveness value based on the audio signal, the modifier effectiveness value indicating how much a change of the at least one modifier value results in a perceptible change of the processed audio signal output to the user; and restricting the inputting of the at least modifier value in dependence of the modifier effectiveness value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Sonova AG
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Volker Kuehnel, Michael Boretzki
  • Publication number: 20220218236
    Abstract: An exemplary hearing evaluation system is configured to obtain a first auditory measurement dataset representative of one or more auditory measurements corresponding to a first ear of a user and that are acquired using a first auditory measurement test procedure having a first acoustic stimulus attribute set, obtain a second auditory measurement dataset representative of one or more auditory measurements corresponding to a second ear of the user and that are acquired using a second auditory measurement test procedure having a second acoustic stimulus attribute set different than the first acoustic stimulus attribute set, obtain a questionnaire response dataset representative of one or more responses to one or more question items associated with the user, and determine, based on the first auditory measurement dataset, the second auditory measurement dataset, and the questionnaire response dataset, a hearing profile of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventors: Olaf Strelcyk, Charlotte Vercammen, Nicola Hildebrand
  • Patent number: 11343621
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a volume modifier value; when the volume modifier value is in a soft sound emphasizer range, modifying a volume control curve by increasing a value of the volume control curve in a range below a reference value, the volume control curve defining how much a sound signal with a specific volume is amplified to a desired volume; when the volume modifier value is in a loud sound limiter range, modifying the volume control curve by increasing a value of the volume control curve in a range above a reference value; and applying the modified volume control curve to a sound processor of a hearing device, such that a sound signal processed by the hearing device and output by the hearing device to the user is amplified according to the modified volume control curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Sonova AG
    Inventors: Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert, Nicola Hildebrand
  • Patent number: 11323825
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a gain of a hearing device includes receiving a demand for increasing a treble of an output sound signal; determining a frequency dependent headroom curve, the headroom curve indicating up to which gain value a frequency of the sound signal is amplifiable; comparing the headroom curve with a gain curve; when the gain curve is below the headroom curve, increasing the gain curve in a treble range; and when the gain curve has reached the headroom curve in the treble range, frequency lowering the sound signal, such that frequencies of the sound signal are moved from the treble range into a middle range of frequencies below the treble range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Sonova AG
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert
  • Patent number: 11323809
    Abstract: A hearing device comprises basic modifiers adjustable by a user, each basic modifier having a range of basic modifier values selectable by the user and each basic modifier modifying a sound processing of the hearing device dependent on the respective basic modifier value. A method comprises: receiving a macro modifier value for a macro modifier, wherein the macro modifier is associated with a subset of the basic modifiers and wherein the macro modifier value is selected by the user from a macro modifier range; calculating, for each basic modifier in the subset, a basic modifier value, wherein the basic modifier value is calculated with a predefined function based on the macro modifier value; applying the calculated basic modifier values to the basic modifiers such that the sound processing of the hearing device is performed based on the basic modifiers adjusted with the calculated basic modifiers values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Sonova AG
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert
  • Patent number: 11323827
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a hearing device includes: receiving an input sound signal; identifying a listening situation; selecting at least one hearing program from a plurality of hearing programs in dependence of the identified listening situation; processing the input sound signal using the at least one selected hearing program to generate a processed sound signal and providing the processed sound signal to a user of the hearing device; receiving an adjustment command for the one or more processing parameters; determining a change rate at which the listening situation changes; when the change rate is above a predefined threshold, applying the one or more adjusted processing parameters to a possible set of hearing programs from the plurality of hearing programs; and when the change rate is below the predefined threshold, applying the one or more adjusted processing parameters to the at least one selected hearing program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Sonova AG
    Inventors: Michael Boretzki, Erich Crameri, Nicola Hildebrand
  • Publication number: 20220021993
    Abstract: A method for fitting a hearing device comprises: receiving an audio signal in the hearing device; providing a user interface for inputting at least one modifier value into the fitting device, the modifier value indicating, how a sound property of the audio signal should be modified by the hearing device; processing the audio signal with a sound processor of the hearing device in dependence of the at least one modifier value, thus providing a processed audio signal; outputting the processed audio signal to a user of the hearing device; determining an modifier effectiveness value based on the audio signal, the modifier effectiveness value indicating how much a change of the at least one modifier value results in a perceptible change of the processed audio signal output to the user; and restricting the inputting of the at least modifier value in dependence of the modifier effectiveness value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2021
    Publication date: January 20, 2022
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Volker Kuehnel, Michael Boretzki
  • Publication number: 20210409876
    Abstract: A hearing aid device is adjusted based on augmented reality. A virtual sound object, such as a bird, is added to a recording of a real-world environment, such as a tree of a forest. Alternatively, a virtual environment may be added to a real-world sound object. The thereby created acoustic—and optionally also visual—scene is then used to optimize the adjustment of the hearing aid device. The adjustment may be done by a user using at least one user control, such as a volume control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventor: Nicola Hildebrand
  • Publication number: 20210195347
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a hearing device includes: receiving an input sound signal; identifying a listening situation; selecting at least one hearing program from a plurality of hearing programs in dependence of the identified listening situation; processing the input sound signal using the at least one selected hearing program to generate a processed sound signal and providing the processed sound signal to a user of the hearing device; receiving an adjustment command for the one or more processing parameters; determining a change rate at which the listening situation changes; when the change rate is above a predefined threshold, applying the one or more adjusted processing parameters to a possible set of hearing programs from the plurality of hearing programs; and when the change rate is below the predefined threshold, applying the one or more adjusted processing parameters to the at least one selected hearing program.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventors: Michael Boretzki, Erich Crameri, Nicola Hildebrand
  • Publication number: 20210058715
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a gain of a hearing device includes receiving a demand for increasing a treble of an output sound signal; determining a frequency dependent headroom curve, the headroom curve indicating up to which gain value a frequency of the sound signal is amplifiable; comparing the headroom curve with a gain curve; when the gain curve is below the headroom curve, increasing the gain curve in a treble range; and when the gain curve has reached the headroom curve in the treble range, frequency lowering the sound signal, such that frequencies of the sound signal are moved from the treble range into a middle range of frequencies below the treble range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Publication date: February 25, 2021
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert
  • Publication number: 20210058703
    Abstract: A hearing device comprises basic modifiers adjustable by a user, each basic modifier having a range of basic modifier values selectable by the user and each basic modifier modifying a sound processing of the hearing device dependent on the respective basic modifier value. A method comprises: receiving a macro modifier value for a macro modifier, wherein the macro modifier is associated with a subset of the basic modifiers and wherein the macro modifier value is selected by the user from a macro modifier range; calculating, for each basic modifier in the subset, a basic modifier value, wherein the basic modifier value is calculated with a predefined function based on the macro modifier value; applying the calculated basic modifier values to the basic modifiers such that the sound processing of the hearing device is performed based on the basic modifiers adjusted with the calculated basic modifiers values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Publication date: February 25, 2021
    Inventors: Nicola Hildebrand, Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert
  • Publication number: 20210058714
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a volume modifier value; when the volume modifier value is in a soft sound emphasizer range, modifying a volume control curve by increasing a value of the volume control curve in a range below a reference value, the volume control curve defining how much a sound signal with a specific volume is amplified to a desired volume; when the volume modifier value is in a loud sound limiter range, modifying the volume control curve by increasing a value of the volume control curve in a range above a reference value; and applying the modified volume control curve to a sound processor of a hearing device, such that a sound signal processed by the hearing device and output by the hearing device to the user is amplified according to the modified volume control curve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Publication date: February 25, 2021
    Inventors: Erich Crameri, Marius Beuchert, Nicola Hildebrand