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Scientists Create Mind-Controlled Hearing Aid That Allows the Wearer To Focus On Particular Voices (theguardian.com) 51

Posted by BeauHD from the straight-out-of-science-fiction dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A mind-controlled hearing aid that allows the wearer to focus on particular voices has been created by scientists, who say it could transform the ability of those with hearing impairments to cope with noisy environments. The device mimics the brain's natural ability to single out and amplify one voice against background conversation. Until now, even the most advanced hearing aids work by boosting all voices at once, which can be experienced as a cacophony of sound for the wearer, especially in crowded environments.

The hearing aid first uses an algorithm to automatically separate the voices of multiple speakers. It then compares these audio tracks to the brain activity of the listener. Previous work found that it is possible to identify which person someone is paying attention to, as their brain activity tracks the sound waves of that voice most closely. The device compares the audio of each speaker to the brain waves of the person wearing the hearing aid. The speaker whose voice pattern most closely matches the listener's brain waves is amplified over the others, allowing them to effortlessly tune in to that person. The scientists developed an earlier version of the system in 2017 that, while promising, had the major limitation that it had to be pre-trained to recognize speakers' voices. Crucially, the latest device works for voices it has never heard before. The study has been published in the journal Science Advances.
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Scientists Create Mind-Controlled Hearing Aid That Allows the Wearer To Focus On Particular Voices More

Scientists Create Mind-Controlled Hearing Aid That Allows the Wearer To Focus On Particular Voices

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  • ...since my brain seems to be missing that ability...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I was just going to say something like that...

      I can't focus on one person talking if music is playing, or a TV is on, while in a busy restaurant, bar or stadium. I don't have difficulty hearing however. I wonder if they will eventually make devices like this that do so, without amplifying volume....

      Cool shit!

    • Imagine how much more social nightclubs would become if you hear the other people there when they spoke
  • I have a medical device developed and manufactured in Australia. Once a new product is released by the developer/manufacturer, it takes the appropriate USA Federal Government agency 2 to 3 years to approve the medical device. It's already available in the rest of the English speaking world But Not in the USA. Something as revolutionary as a bio-goop that seals human skin/blood vessels/heart holes/etc. will probably take, at least, a decade (10 years) to approve.

    Is this Good or Bad?
    I don't know but w
    • Is your device, perchance, a Cochlear brand device?

    • I have a medical device developed and manufactured in Australia. Once a new product is released by the developer/manufacturer, it takes the appropriate USA Federal Government agency 2 to 3 years to approve the medical device. It's already available in the rest of the English speaking world But Not in the USA. Something as revolutionary as a bio-goop that seals human skin/blood vessels/heart holes/etc. will probably take, at least, a decade (10 years) to approve.

      Is this Good or Bad?
      I don't know but we won't get a chance to find out any time soon!
      Sad. So Sad.

      Er, no actual American talks like that.

  • Just a thought. Annoying spouses. Children. Whomever.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday May 16, 2019 @08:10PM (#58605596)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • if the hearing aid biz would stop thinking like it (Score:4, Interesting)

    by doginthewoods ( 668559 ) on Thursday May 16, 2019 @09:05PM (#58605740)
    it's the dark ages. Jeez. i wear aids. The problem with speech focus is because hearing aids rely heavily on sound processing to make speech "better" - noise reduction, directional microphone switching, speech enhancers, anti feedback and more. These are all active all the time so they change a person's concept of what is "normal"- kind of like someone changing the tone controls while you are trying to listen to music. Then there is the false concept of over amplifying speech, then compressing it, to keep the gain within a narrow db range. The problem with this is that the compression also adds "mush" and reduces the sense of depth, and that is key key - without a sense of depth of field then it is very hard to pick out a voice from a group of voices. Add to that a narrow band limiter which does the same thing. And all of the compressors are slow release. So the hearing aid software itself is the problem because the HA business is still using formulas and concepts that are way out of date. Try to talk to an audiologist as an audio engineer, and you get an appalling lack of knowledge about audio and music fidelity. Modern aids are fully capable of good fidelity, but to get that requires killing sacred cows, bucking the industry and approaching from the viewpoint of music production. This latest advance" is just one more band aid on top of a another band aid.

  • Opposite day ... (Score:3)

    by CaptainDork ( 3678879 ) on Friday May 17, 2019 @10:41AM (#58608740)

    ... can it be programmed to cancel one, single voice by colour? Say, orange?

    Asking for a friend.

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