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AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

washington.edu

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Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#241

Post by ddmf »

serial_dev wrote: post #162

If the size could shrink to the size of a small earplug, I'd love to use this as a person who is not hearing-impaired (at least they couldn't diagnose me with it, so now I'm not sure if their diagnostics sucks, or I'm just a normal person and others pretend better that they hear everything well) . In groups and with friends, it's inevitable that you end up in a busy restaurant or a bar, and it always frustrates me th…

I have issues with auditory processing disorder which means my hearing is actually really good, but someone talking to me seems to get a much lower decode priority than some random noise around me - if I can see the lips, even though I can't lipread, it helps me decode the speech with a much greater accuracy.

Every time I looked into this, it seemed to push the link with autism and/or adhd - back in 2008 I wasn't diagnosed so I poo-pooed the idea somewhat. Now I'm diagnosed as AuDHD.

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#242

Post by pc86 »

cs02rm0 wrote: post #208
0_____0 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the SNR is already low enough that you're having issues discerning speech, lowering the volume won't help.

It won't help you discern speech, but it'll stop your ears ringing.

Except it absolutely will help you discern speech. The sound blocking is not uniform across all frequencies and most speech is not blocked very well. So earplugs will make speech 20% quieter but will also make all the nonsense going on around you 70% quieter. So the speech will be easier to hear assuming you don't have $3 Wish earplugs.

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#243

Post by bongodongobob »

passwordoops wrote: post #167
KaiserPro wrote: post #92

One thing that the HN crowd should appreciate is just how expensive and shit hearing aids are. go and look the up the price, they are deeply expensive, even for basic "make it louder" type aids. Worse still, because they interfere with your ear, you tend to loose the ability to "steer" your hearing. This means that you can't tune out other conversations/noises or stuff. The one good side effect of facebook spending b…

The expense isn't a tech problem, but an anti trust problem. A small cartel controls the supply, so the only incentive is to maximize profits, not out compete with better tech (0) (0) https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/silencing-the-competition...

Yup, in the US this was because they were classified as medical devices which made barrier to entry extremely high. However, the laws regulating this got looser over the last year so we will be seeing more competition now that they can be sold OTC.

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#244

Post by dnpls »

serial_dev wrote: post #162

If the size could shrink to the size of a small earplug, I'd love to use this as a person who is not hearing-impaired (at least they couldn't diagnose me with it, so now I'm not sure if their diagnostics sucks, or I'm just a normal person and others pretend better that they hear everything well) . In groups and with friends, it's inevitable that you end up in a busy restaurant or a bar, and it always frustrates me th…

The article mentions "The team is working to expand the system to earbuds and hearing aids in the future."

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#245

Post by kdfjgbdfkjgb »

RhysU wrote: post #230
wanderingstan wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...restaurant and public space designers have stopped thinking about sound. Theory: The bars and restaurants want young patrons, so the poor acoustics are a selection mechanism. Only young people can converse there, so older folks stay away. The place gets reputation as “young and hip.” Whether by conscious design or “natural selection” for establishments, this seems to be the case.

Designers for bars and clubs will take the clientele into account in subtle sensory ways. One once told me how he designed a club known to cater to those having trysts-- it had many isolated booths where the lighting prevented seeing into the booths from the main areas.

the club was already known for that before it was designed?

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#247

Post by wruza »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #219
wruza wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't your issue though. A group chooses to talk in an environment where they can barely hear each other. Rather than using a device for it, I'd recommend to perceive the problem as it is and solve it in a conventional way. E.g. by saying "I couldn't hear shit, and you too probably. That's stupid, let's go instead" unless it's hard to do. Generally these places are designed for you to suffer unless you're scream…

It's certainly their issue if they want to continue spending time with the group doing what most of the group prefers. > I don't get why people go there and leave money, cause I wouldn't go there even for that money. That's a problem with lack of empathy and understanding on your part, not with the group dynanimcs of that person's friends.

Group dynamics are hard, see Abilene paradox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene_paradox

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#248

Post by Aeolun »

wintermutestwin wrote: post #224
mozman wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t go to bars very often anymore but I absolutely detest live music. I go with friends to talk. Not to have loud music prevent a conversation.

Ironically, I think most of my hearing loss is from people trying to talk to me while I was listening to a band. If the band is playing zip it!

Dunno whether you really need more than your hands to communicate when listening to a band in that situation. At least until you get to more than 10 people that need a beer.

Re: AI headphones let wearer listen to a single person in a crowd by looking at them

#250

Post by micromacrofoot »

superultra wrote: post #185
serial_dev wrote: post #162

If the size could shrink to the size of a small earplug, I'd love to use this as a person who is not hearing-impaired (at least they couldn't diagnose me with it, so now I'm not sure if their diagnostics sucks, or I'm just a normal person and others pretend better that they hear everything well) . In groups and with friends, it's inevitable that you end up in a busy restaurant or a bar, and it always frustrates me th…

I could not hear anyone in any crowded situation. At middle age I thought my hearing was leaving. Yet every audiologist I went to said my hearing was fine. So I found the best audiologist in my fairly large metro area, and scheduled a year in advance (the wait list was that long). After a whole day of tests the audiologist comes in and says I have good news and bad news and good bad news. The good news is that my hea…

The one thing that annoys me about restaurants and other crowded places... is the insistence on playing music to attempt(?) to cover the sound!

I simply don't understand it, why the hell would I want a noisy place where I can barely hear anyone to have MORE noise!? it's not even good quality noise, it's usually top 40 from 10 years ago being blasted over shit speakers.

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