Hearing device-based systems and methods for monitoring a listening state of a user

A hearing device configured to be worn by a user, the hearing device comprising:

• an input transducer;
• a motion sensor;
• and
• a processing unit communicatively coupled to the input transducer and the motion sensor, the processing unit configured to:
• receive, from the input transducer, audio data representative of one or more audio signals presented to the user, the audio data including one or more speech signals representative of a speech from one or more speech sources different from the user;
• acquire one or more of:
• motion data received from a motion sensor, the motion data representative of head movements of the user while the user wears the hearing device;
• or
• own-voice data included in the audio data, the own-voice data representative of an own-voice activity of the user;
• determine, based on at least one of the motion data or the own-voice data, a listening state of the user with respect to the one or more speech signals, wherein the determining the listening state comprises:
• determining a paying attention state representative of whether or to which degree the user intends to pay attention to any of the one or more speech signals;
• and
• determining a comprehension state representative of whether or which degree the user comprehends the one or more speech signals;
• and
• perform, based on the listening state, an operation associated with the hearing device, wherein the operation comprises:
• activating one or more sound processing properties of the hearing device when the listening state includes both of an attentive state representative of the user intending to pay attention to the one or more speech signals and a comprehending state representative of the user comprehending the one or more speech signals;
• and
• deactivating the one or more sounds processing properties of the hearing device when the listening state includes one or both of an inattentive state representative of the user not intending to pay attention to any of the one or more speech signals or an uncomprehending state representative of the user not comprehending the one or more speech signals.

A method comprising:

• receiving, from an input transducer included in a hearing device configured to be worn by a user, audio data representative of one or more audio signals presented to the user, the audio data including one or more speech signals representative of a speech from one or more speech sources different from the user;
• acquiring one or more of:
• motion data received from a motion sensor included in the hearing device, the motion data representative of head movements of the user while the user wears the hearing device;
• or
• own-voice data included in the audio data, the own-voice data representative of an own-voice activity of the user;
• determining, based on at least one of the motion data or the own-voice data, a listening state of the user with respect to the one or more speech signals, wherein the determining the listening state comprises:
• determining a paying attention state representative of whether or to which degree the user intends to pay attention to any of the one or more speech signals;
• and
• determining a comprehension state representative of whether or which degree the user comprehends the one or more speech signals;
• and
• performing, based on the listening state, an operation associated with the hearing device, wherein the operation comprises:
• activating one or more sound processing properties of the hearing device when the listening state includes both of an attentive state representative of the user intending to pay attention to the one or more speech signals and a comprehending state representative of the user comprehending the one or more speech signals;
• and
• deactivating the one or more sounds processing properties of the hearing device when the listening state includes one or both of an inattentive state representative of the user not intending to pay attention to any of the one or more speech signals or an uncomprehending state representative of the user not comprehending the one or more speech signals.