Mind-controlled hearing aid identifies sounds wearer wants to hear

Scientists have invented a new brain-controlled hearing aid that will let the wearer hear only specific people what they actually want to hear.

A new hearing aid created by researchers at Columbia University relies on the user’s own brain waves to tune into particular people and things, and drowns all the background noise. It uses speech-separation algorithms with neural networks, complex mathematical models that imitate the brain’s natural abilities.

The system first separates out the voices of individual speakers from a group. It then compares the voices of each speaker to the brain waves of the person listening. The voice pattern that most closely matches the listener’s brain waves is then amplified over the rest, described Daily Mail.

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“The brain area that processes sound is extraordinarily sensitive and powerful; it can amplify one voice over others, seemingly effortlessly, while today’s hearings aids still pale in comparison,' said senior author Nima Mesgarani.

“By creating a device that harnesses the power of the brain itself, we hope our work will lead to technological improvements that enable the hundreds of millions of hearing-impaired people worldwide to communicate just as easily as their friends and family do,” he continued.

The device, according to the creators, along with suppressing background noise, is able to boost the volume of an individual voice over other unlike modern hearing aids.

“In crowded places, like parties, hearing aids tend to amplify all speakers at once,” said Mesgarani. “This severely hinders a wearer’s ability to converse effectively, essentially isolating them from the people around them.”

The technology is still in its early stages, but experts believe that it will prove to be a significant step for people with hearing disabilities to better communicate with people around them. However, the device has currently been tested indoors and is also a heft one. The team ultimately hopes to develop an easy-to-wear device and check if the algorithm works outside too.