Patent ID: 8331591
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: H04R

Abstract:
1. A method for operating a hearing aid, comprising: receiving ambient sound from acoustic sources at ambient signal receiving locations; generating electrical acoustic signals by the hearing aid from the ambient sound; separating the electrical acoustic signals into electrical output signals by a signal processing section of the hearing aid; establishing a local source operating mode by the signal processing section; selecting a first acoustic source from the separated electrical output signals in the local source operating mode, wherein the first acoustic source is selected based on a criteria that is selected from the group consisting of: a ratio of direct sound to an echo component, a level criterion, a head shadow effect, punctiformity of a respective source, a time feature, a freedom from interference, a vertical distance from the hearing aid wearer, and a spoken language; and outputting the first acoustic source in an output sound of the hearing aid so that the first acoustic source is acoustically prominent and better perceived for a hearing aid wearer compared to other acoustic sources.