Spatial audio activity detection for hearing aids

We present a multi-microphone signal activity detection scheme for hearing aids to differentiate between the periods of activity of desired and interfering sources. The method is designed to provide robust performance in the presence of simultaneously active desired and interfering sources. We exploit knowledge from the hearing aid domain, and the directional processing present in modern hearing aids, to present a framework to design appropriate thresholds for the detection. Experiments confirm robust performance under practical reverberant conditions.