Visual aid for the hearing impaired

Electrical audio signal processing systems and devices – Sound effects – Reverberators

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Details

381 26, 381 92, H04R 2500

Patent

active

050292161

ABSTRACT:
A multi-channel electronic visual aid device which is able to signal to the user whether sound is coming from the left or right, front or back, or both. For the plurality of channels, which may operate in pairs, the sound is picked up by a respective microphone and amplified and rectified into a DC voltage. The DC voltage is next fed to an analog to digital converter and then to a digital encoder. The binary code from the encoder is coupled into a logic circuit where the binary code is decoded to provide a plurality of output levels which are used to drive an indicator which, in turn, provides a visual indication of the sound level received. The binary codes for each pair of channels are also fed into a digital comparator. The output of the comparator is used to enable the logic circuits of the two channels such that if, for example, the signal coming from the right is louder than that coming from the left, the output of the logic unit of the right channel will be enabled and the corresponding indicator activated, indicating the sound source on the right. An indication of the loudness is also provided. One embodiment of the invention may be carried by the hearing impaired or deaf, as a system, for example, which is embedded into eye glasses or a cap. Another embodiment of the invention may be integrated with a vehicle to give a hearing impaired or deaf driver a warning, with a directional indication, that an emergency vehicle is in the vicinity. In this second embodiment, the emergency vehicle transmits an RF signal which would be used as an enabling signal for the visual aid device to avoid false alarms from traffic and other sound sources in the vicinity of the dirver's vehicle.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3568144 (1971-03-01), Streb
patent: 3626365 (1971-12-01), Press et al.
patent: 3927388 (1975-12-01), Medrano
patent: 4212085 (1980-07-01), Vaillancour et al.
patent: 4712244 (1987-12-01), Zwicker et al.
patent: 4794394 (1988-12-01), Halstead

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