(Left) Glasses concept and charging station (Right) Statistics on alternative hearing solutions (via KAIST)
When the brain looses function over a sensory receptor, brain activity towards other senses is heightened naturally. Researchers from Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are hoping to add artificial synesthesia to this already enhanced level of sensing in people suffering for permanent or partial hearing loss.
Most of the people in the world currently live in cities. Objects and people are constantly in motion, which poses a constant threat to anyone travelling through its busy streets. Luckily for most of us, we are well aware of the sounds made by a honking taxi or a speeding bus, however, people with hearing loss do not have this luxury. Yang-Hann Kim, expert in acoustics and associated digital signal processing at KAIST, is leading a team of researchers to develop a set of eye glasses that will help the hearing impaired see sounds.
Equipped with seven microphones and embedded LED’s, the eyeglasses triangulate and flash in the direction of a sound so the user will look towards its source. The glasses only flash when there is sound above some user-specified threshold.
At the moment, the device requires the user to carry a laptop to conduct the continuous signal processing. Future work for the device will be miniaturizing the needed hardware so the glasses will be practical.
If Kim and his team can achieve a sleek design, this device could also be appealing to the masses of people that walk around the city with their headphones and do not hear crucial sounds.
Kim gave a lecture on the device at this year’s InterNoise in NYC.
Cabe
