Method and apparatus for creating binaural beats using hearing aids
AssigneeStarkey Laboratories, Inc.
InventorYezihalem Mesfin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hearing assistance system includes a pair of first and second hearing aids to generate a first acoustic signal having a first frequency and a second acoustic signal having a second frequency. When the first and second acoustic signals are each delivered to one of the ears of a listener being a hearing aid wearer, the listener perceives binaural beats at a third frequency being the difference between the first and second frequency. The effects of the binaural beats may include various health or other benefits to the hearing aid wearer.
Claims20
A hearing assistance system for delivering sounds to a listener, comprising:
- a hearing aid set configured to be worn by the listener, the hearing aid set including:
- a first hearing aid configured to generate a first acoustic signal having a first frequency and deliver the first acoustic signal to the listener;
- a second hearing aid communicatively coupled to the first hearing aid and configured to generate a second acoustic signal having a second frequency and deliver the second acoustic signal to the listener, the second frequency differing from the first frequency such that binaural beats are created to be perceived by the listener by simultaneously delivering the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal to the listener, the binaural beats having a third frequency being a difference between the first frequency and the second frequency;
- and
- control circuitry including a first portion in the first hearing aid and a second portion in the second hearing aid, the control circuitry including:
- a user input device configured to receive a user selection command;
- a storage device;
- signal sets stored in the storage device, the signal sets each produced for a specific purpose of creating the binaural beats;
- and
- a signal generator configured to select a signal set from the signal sets stored in the storage device according to the user selection command and generate the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal using the selected signal set.
A method for operating a hearing assistance system for delivering sounds to a listener having first and second ears, comprising:
- storing signal sets each produced for a specific purpose of creating binaural beats;
- receiving from the listener a selection of a signal set from the stored signal sets;
- generating a first acoustic signal and a second acoustic signal using the selected signal set, the first acoustic signal having a first frequency,. the second acoustic signal having a second frequency, the second frequency differing from the first frequency such that binaural beats are created to be perceived by the listener by simultaneously delivering the first acoustic signal to the first ear of the listener and the second acoustic signal to the second ear of the listener, the binaural beats having a third frequency being a difference between the first frequency and the second frequency;
- delivering the first acoustic signal to the first ear of the listener using a first hearing aid of the hearing assistance system;
- and
- delivering the second acoustic signal to the second ear of the listener using a second hearing aid of the hearing assistance system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.