Speech in noise has always been the gold standard of what most of us want hearing aids to do. has made big strides but to my understanding still relies on the ability of the domes/molds to block out external noise. Is anybody doing or talking about doing what I call Active Noise Cancellation like some premium car stereos have? I think how this work is the stereo system "hears" outside noise and generates a sound wave that cancels it. If this were possible with hearing aids it would eliminate the need for occlusive ear pieces to block out sound.
Sound destruction comes up with a Google search. The unwanted sound is generated and flipped 180 degrees to cancel the sound before getting to your ears.
The only thing I can see that keeps this technology out of hearing aids is size or maybe this technology is just too young. As it developes it just might get small enough for hearing aids and processors.
ANC can be really helpful for steady background noise, but it won’t necessarily remove sudden sounds or voices completely. I’d also check the fit and seal, since a poor fit can make a surprisingly big difference in how effective the noise cancellation feels.
Hearing aids already use phase shifting for directional beam forming. The issue with applying ANC to the problem like you’re describing is that the signal and noise are both coming from the same source: the hearing aid mics. The reason it works on headphones is that you have your signal coming from your audio source, and a microphone picking up “everything else”. That makes the architecture a lot simpler. The headphones phase invert what their onboard mics are picking up and mix that into the output. So your ears are getting the audio source, whatever real noise is leaking from outside plus the phase inverted signal which partly cancels out that outside noise.
The only thing I can see that keeps this technology out of hearing aids is size or maybe this technology is just too young. As it developes it just might get small enough for hearing aids and processors.
Not young technology. I used noise cancelling headphones 30 years ago when I was a pilot
interesting idea! true active noise cancellation could be a major breakthrough for hearing aids, especially if it could reduce the need for more occlusive earpieces.
I think ANC would require earmolds. If used with domes, and the dome moves from where it should be seated, the noise and counter-noise would be unbalanced which could be worse than no ANC.
Orka's has been making big claims and promises for a long time.
In 2023, they released the Orka 2 with similar promises and claims (back then, the name was " DeNoise" ). I was at CES in 2021 and, I think they won an innovation award for one of their products.
Hearingtracker published a similar article about the Orka 2. After that: poof, the Orka 2 dissapeared (literally, Orka's page doesn't even mention it -- they don't even have a support web page or CS customer number listed). I wonder what the situation is with current Orka owners.
But now, with Lexie gone, Bose is probably looking for a new partner (I don't even know if their Bose/Lexie sold well so this is just a guess).
I'll be very surprised if they launch anything and , if they do, I wouldn't buy their products based on what happened to their previous products.
It's a long road from concept products to production.
Look at all the claims they make in the article below from 2023.
1.- The way it works is that ANC headsets have a chip that generates an inverted sound wave (sin(x) + sin(x+ pi) = 0). It works well with low frequency sounds but it struggles with sudden, sharp or high frequency noises. This is why it works relatively well with car stereo mics (road and aircraft noise are mostly in the low frequency range).
2.- Because ANC is always listening (on) and, the chip is doing real-time processing, they consume a signficant amount of energy. On devices like , battery consumption is extremely important. The Sphere does not use ANC but it uses / to improve and we've all read in this forums how the battery usage of Spheres increases in Spheric mode.
3.- How do you optimize what the ANC "filters" vs what the person needs to hear (the famous SNR) -- this is where the AI/DNN algorithms add significant value. With road noise is simple: Cancel the lows (human voice is mostly in the mids).
4.- There are so many different types of hearing loss: A person with high frequency loss (like me) does not like ANC because it sounds too processed/artificial but others, who struggle with noise or simply don't like it, may want max ANC (in other words, tuning the ANC to the subjective human brain). I see lots people using APP3 on the streets but I can't do that, I get dizzy).
5.- And then you have the issue of feedback with open domes (one of the main reasons that occlusive domes are needed) -- not only you will have the ANC working but also a feedback manager distorting the sound.
Many of the problems mentioned above are very easily managed with passive noise cancellation. Or, like Phonak's MAV, a combination of noise management with passive noise control.
I am not saying it is impossible: technology advances today can do what I didn't think it was possible 10 years ago (e.g. speeds of 3 gbits download using my iPhone ).
I just want to share my thoughts on what I think some of the challenges are.
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