Binaural Fusion Puts Hearing Aid Users in the Driver’s Seat

By Tammara Stender, AuD   Most drivers keep their gaze on the windshield to see oncoming traffic. It is, after all, the best way to avoid collisions. Occasionally, however, you will check your rearview and side mirrors to monitor the road and other vehicles. Mirrors are crucial for safe driving, even though you cannot drive effectively while constantly looking at them. A quick glance in the side mirror can tell you when it is unsafe to pass another car. The rearview mirror can help locate the sound of an approaching ambulance. Accidents and reckless driving would be extremely common without these mirrors. Many hearing aids using wireless communication are like mirrors, permitting the user to focus on the loudest speech in the listening environment. This speech signal, by communicating between devices, is amplified for the listener for the best audibility. These systems, however, often lack monitoring for other signals in the environment or, in other words, the rearview and side mirrors. Keeping the listener focused on the loudest speech signal often comes at the cost of monitoring other sounds surrounding the hearing aid user. The listener may not even be aware of other sounds present when the hearing aids are focused solely on the signal of interest. The user, for example, might not hear a friend calling from behind if his hearing aids are focused on a speaker in front of him. Hearing aids choose which signal to focus on, so users are in the passenger seat for controlli...
Source: R&D Blog - Category: ENT & OMF Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs