June 14, 2006

Cool technology - hearing aids

Hearing Aids have gotten quite fancy in the last five years or so. My Dad has a pair and they have a lot of signal processing and equalization horsepower built into them. This company has done something very simple and clever -- their hearing aids not only adapt to the auditory environment, the two aids will also talk with each other and so preserve the wearers sense of stereo and ability to locate sounds. From Med Gadget:
The Centra™: World's First Trainable Hearing Aid
The Centra™, from Siemens Hearing Instruments, is the first ever hearing aid that automatically adjusts to the user's preferences in a variety of different environments, offering unparalleled performance for the nine million Britons with hearing loss.

DataLearning surpasses simple data logging systems by not only recording wearer data, but actively applying that data to improve the hearing experience: over time, Centra 'learns' user volume preferences in different hearing situations and then automatically fine-tunes itself for optimum hearing. Centra combines this DataLearning technology with other exclusive features, such as SoundSmoothing™ and ear-to-ear wireless™ technology, making it the most advanced hearing solution available.

SoundSmoothing is the first sound suppression system that reduces impulsive non-speech sounds, like rustling paper and clanging dishes, while leaving speech signals intact. SoundSmoothing makes the listening experience more comfortable, reducing fatigue and increasing wearing time. It helps deliver unmatched listening comfort and speech intelligibility in noisy situations.

The ear-to-ear wireless technology enables hearing devices to talk to each other for the first time, adjusting and synchronising automatically in a process similar to natural hearing. This technology has been developed specifically for binaural use - wearing an aid in both ears - which offers the user significant benefits, including improved clarity, quality of hearing, and being able to identify more precisely where sound is coming from.
Very cool! Posted by DaveH at June 14, 2006 10:08 PM
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