Ear insert shape determination

Abstract

There is provided a method of determining a three-dimensional shape of an insert for insertion into an ear. The method includes receiving image data corresponding to a two-dimensional image of an ear,processing the image data to measure at least one biometric feature of the ear, the at least one biometric feature being indicative of a three- dimensional shape of at least part of the ear, and determining a three-dimensional shape of an insert for insertion into the ear by matching said at leastone biometric feature with one of a plurality of pre-stored three-dimensional shapes. Each pre-storedthree-dimensional shape corresponds to a respective ear.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a method, device and system for determining the three-dimensional shape of an insert inserted into the ear from a two-dimensional image of the ear. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to the manufacture of earplugs which are custom shaped to fit the ear. Background technique [0002] Systems for manufacturing custom earplugs are known. Typically, such systems will utilize molds or specialized equipment to determine the shape of the earbud that fits into the ear. For example, it is known that custom in-ear headphones produced for people are generally more comfortable and less likely to fall out of the ear than standard non-custom earplugs. However, there is a need to develop an alternative method of determining the shape of earplugs without the use of molds or specialized equipment, making the manufacturing process less expensive and relieving the logistics of bringing the intended user together with a sp...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

US2010 / 0296664 acknowledges that it presents a system that attempts to infer 3D data from 2D images of the ear, but be aware that this data has many errors and therefore may be inaccurate and unreliable

Images