System and method for improving hearing

A method for improving hearing for a listening user, comprising the steps of:

• holding a smartphone having a camera in a location that allows the listening user with the smartphone to detect location of the listening user;
• obtaining audio signals with a plurality of beamformer microphones in the smartphone, wherein the microphones are arranged with at least three microphones in a triangular array at the periphery of the smartphone, the microphones being located on an extendable and retractable sliding extension piece which can slidably extend and retract from the smartphone, wherein the extension piece is slidably mounted on the underside of the smartphone and is in the form of a flat piece on which the three microphones are mounted in fixed position in a non-collinear relationship relative to each other and are exposed when a leading portion of the sliding piece extends from an edge of the smartphone and remain in their fixed relative position when extended;
• and
• feeding back hearing information to the listening user with enhanced audio signals processed from at least one of the plurality of beamformer microphones using a beamformer algorithm that defines an angle and strength of the beamformer microphones, and enabling one or more of the plurality of the beamformer microphones while disabling other beamformer microphones of the plurality to optimize reception of the audio signals received depending on the position of the listening user's head.

A non-transitory computer storage media having instructions stored thereon which, when executed, execute a method to provide enhanced audio signals to a listening user comprising the steps of:

• receiving audio signals with a plurality of beamformer microphones in a smartphone, wherein the microphones are arranged with at least three microphones arranged in a triangular array at the periphery of the smartphone, the microphones being located on an extendable and retractable sliding extension piece which can slidably extend and retract from the smartphone, wherein the extension piece is slidably mounted on the underside of the smartphone and is in the form of a flat piece on which the three microphones are mounted in fixed position in a non-collinear relationship relative to each other and are exposed when a leading portion of the sliding piece extends from an edge of the smartphone and remain in their fixed relative position when extended;
• monitoring the position of the listening user with the smartphone with a camera that is in focus to allow for viewing of the listening user;
• and
• feeding back hearing information to the listening user with enhanced audio signals processed using the plurality of the beamformer microphones, enabling one or more of the plurality of beamformer microphones while disabling other beamformer microphones of the plurality to optimize reception of the acoustic signals received depending on the position of the listening user's head.

A system for improving hearing of a listening user from a human voice, comprising:

• a smartphone with a camera to detect the location of the listening user;
• a plurality of beamformer microphones arranged with at least three microphones in a triangular array at the periphery of the smartphone for obtaining audio signals, the microphones being located on an extendable and retractable sliding extension piece which can slidably extend and retract from the smartphone, wherein the extension piece is slidably mounted on the underside of the smartphone and is in the form of a flat piece on which the three microphones are mounted in fixed position in a non-collinear relationship relative to each other and are exposed when a leading portion of the sliding piece extends from an edge of the smartphone device and remain in their fixed relative position when extended, wherein a characteristic angle and strength of a beamformer microphone are definable by a beamformer algorithm;
• and
• the smartphone having a circuit which enhances audio signals from at least one of the beamformer microphones using a beamformer algorithm that defines the characteristic angle and strength of the beamformer microphones, and outputs the enhanced audio signals to the listening user, enabling one or more of the plurality of beamformer microphones while disabling other beamformer microphones of the plurality to optimize reception of the acoustic signals received depending on the position of the listening user's head;
• wherein the plurality of beamformer microphones is selected from the group consisting of a microphone array, a sound puck, a conference pack and a smartphone.

A method for improving hearing for a listening user, comprising the steps of:

• holding a smartphone having a camera in a location that allows the listening user with the smartphone to detect location of the listening user;
• obtaining audio signals with a plurality of beamformer microphones arranged with at least three microphones in a triangular array at the periphery of the smartphone, the microphones being located on an extendable and retractable sliding extension piece which can slidably extend and retract from the smartphone, wherein the extension piece is slidably mounted on the underside of the smartphone and is in the form of a flat piece on which the three microphones are mounted in fixed position in a non-collinear relationship relative to each other and are exposed when a leading portion of the sliding piece extends from an edge of the smartphone and remain in their fixed relative position when extended;
• and
• feeding back hearing information to the listening user with enhanced audio signals processed from at least one of the plurality of beamformer microphones using a beamformer algorithm that defines an angle and strength of the beamformer microphones, and enabling one or more of the plurality of beamformer microphones while disabling other beamformer microphones of the plurality to optimize reception of the acoustic signals received depending on the position of the listening user's head.