Evaluation of a complementary hearing aid for spatial sound segregation

Abstract

Spatial segregation of sounds is a common and simple task for healthy hearing people. Unfortunately, people who suffer from partial hearing loss have great troubles in separating sound sources in crowded and noisy environments. Social isolation is the most common consequence and hearing aids are not a solution, especially in severe noisy conditions, because of their limited directionality. In this work we present the Glassense, a wearable device designed to be a complement for traditional acoustic prostheses. It exploits microphone arrays to spatially filter sounds, so that frontal speech sources are preserved, while competing noise from the sides and the back is attenuated. This behaviour, like an “acoustical lens”, changes the ratio between interesting frontal sounds and other sources, improving speech reception performance of subjects. The use of Glassense in severe noisy environments can promote social inclusion for people who suffer from partial hearing loss.