Google and an Australian hearing coalition have come together with the aim of using machine intelligence technology to improve hearing aids and cochlear implants. This partnership is focused on providing new and improved solutions to those experiencing hearing loss, who have long been calling for a more customized approach.
The collaboration, which started earlier this year, involves Cochlear, the maker of cochlear implants, as well as the National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, the Shepherd Centre and NextSense. The goal is to bring together expertise and resources from hearing research, technology, academia, government, and health care and make real advances in hearing technology in the near future.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide currently live with some form of hearing loss. This figure is expected to rise to 2.5 billion people and 700 million disabled hearing loss by 2050. With this partnership in place, the hope is to reduce the global hearing crisis.
Google intends on using its AI and machine learning technology to make personalized hearing aid solutions for individuals. This means that the solution can be tweaked to the unique needs of each individuals, regardless of the noisy environment they may be in. With hearing aids, background noise is amplified just as much as voices, making it difficult to follow conversations. With the help of AI and machine learning, these issues can potentially be reduced.
Sam Sepah, Lead Accessibility Research at Google, explains that the idea is to customize the experience for each person, and to match it with the environment they are in.
The partnership between Google and the Australian hearing coalition is a great way to make sure that people with hearing loss don’t miss out on their favorite sound. With Google’s AI and machine learning technology, hearing assistance technologies such as hearing aids and cochlear implants can finally be tailor-made to each individual’s specific needs.
