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Human senses are necessary to experience our environment. Hearing is essential for our speech communication and the environmental perception. Therefore people with hearing problems suffer from diminished quality of life. Even people with normal hearing or with a moderate hearing loss need special assistance in difficult acoustical environments – like in case of speech understanding in background noise, at a noisy workplace, in a car or at public places.
Research and development focuses on “Audio System Technology for Audiology and Assistive Systems”, “Hearing Assistance in Communication Environments” and “Personalized Hearing Systems” thereby addressing customers of the sectors health, transportation, multimedia, telecommunication and security.
Basis for research and further technology development are
- Hearing models for the normal and impaired hearing
- Methods to forecast and measure speech intelligibility under difficult acoustical conditions
- Audio signal processing for optimal speech presentation (background noise reduction, echo cancellation, directional filtering)
- Robust speech recognition based on auditory characteristics
- Technologies for the detection and classification of sounds and complex acoustical scenes
Personalized Hearing Systems
In the field of “Personalized Hearing Systems” conventional audio devices like home media (TV, mp3-player) or communication systems (mobile, Internet or hands-free phones) are equipped or connected with personalized ear protection and rehabilitative hearing technology. On the one hand, this is done by the integration of signal-processing strategies, normally used in hearing aids, into conventional audio devices. Especially people with a marginal, and therefore not medicated, hearing loss can benefit from this rehabilitative hearing technology. On the other hand the researchers develop concepts for the integration and interfacing of audio devices with medical hearing devices. This enables new solutions and applications for the support of any age group, form of amblyacousia and hearing situation.
Audio System Technology for Audiology and Assistive Systems
The research field “Audio System Technology for Audiology and Assistive Systems” combines Oldenburg’s expertise in the field of hearing support, signal classification and analysis with Ilmenau’s know-how in the field of spatial, natural sound rendering. Therefore e.g. the use of the Wave Field Synthesis for audiology and multimedia hearing-aid adjustment is analyzed. A further subject to research is “Ambient Assisted Living” – the technology-supported adaption of environment according to people’s individual needs. Thereby, a sound presentation, personalized to the specific needs of the user ensuring speech intelligibility for media reception, plays a decisive role. Moreover, the acoustical monitoring of living space in order to detect unusual, and potentially dangerous situations for elderly or needy persons as well as the robust voice control of equipment or buildings is of great importance.
Hearing Assistance in Communication Environments
“Hearing Assistance in Communication Environments”, as the third research field, deals with the improvement of speech understanding at public places, at work or in the car. Here, signal-processing strategies for noise reduction, echo cancellation and directional filtering are researched and developed. In addition, research also focuses on model-based prediction of audibility and speech understanding in noisy environments and the adaptation of these technologies for practical use in different applications and scenarios
Current Research Topics:
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