Researchers at Sydney University may have the solution to the biggest problem of the hearing impaired: how to carry on a conversation with more than one person or in a noisy environment.

The Spatial Hearing Aid provides the listener with direction as well as sound, enabling segregation of speech, and providing a significant increase in speech intelligibility.

“We humans naturally use our brains to sort out what sounds we want to pay attention to. The Spatial Hearing Aid provides spatial cues to help the hearing-impaired do this, without arbitrarily deciding which sounds are important,” says Dr Craig Jin, lead researcher on the project. “This is markedly different to the current industry trend which focuses on allowing the technology built into the hearing-aid to decide which sounds are important.”

The University of Sydney has established a spin-off company, VAST Audio Pty Ltd, to commercialise the product which is now undergoing clinical trials. If it passes the trials it could be on the market in three years.

Via linkfilter News Medical.