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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

#431

Post by onemoresoop »

victor106 wrote: post #388
superultra wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> I could hear so well I was unable to differentiate sound; my hearing hadn’t gotten worse, my brain’s ability to separate sound had. Is there a name for this condition?

Auditory processing disorder (APD)

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

#432

Post by interludead »

floatrock wrote: post #232
superultra wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> restaurant and public space designers have stopped thinking about sound. Most bars opened in the last 15 years have cement floors, very little sound insulation, and they’re based on the idea that you’re not having a good time unless your ears are ringing. Recently listened to a really good podcast about this phenomenon https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gastropod/id918896288?... (or pick your favorite podcast ap…

Peace and quiet in our increasingly noisy and busy world is indeed a luxury to have

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

#433

Post by interludead »

gitinit wrote: post #332
countvonbalzac wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't there some cheap ways to muffle sound? Wood floors, rugs, curtains, artwork, acoustic panels, etc.

Sound dampening artwork actually seems really interesting.

Yeah, by integrating art with sound-absorbing materials, it's possible to enhance the acoustic environment and the interior design. I wonder if there is a place where foam art is on display?

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

#434

Post by interludead »

londons_explore wrote: post #352
floatrock wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> restaurant and public space designers have stopped thinking about sound. Most bars opened in the last 15 years have cement floors, very little sound insulation, and they’re based on the idea that you’re not having a good time unless your ears are ringing. Recently listened to a really good podcast about this phenomenon https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gastropod/id918896288?... (or pick your favorite podcast ap…

> restaurants can have good sound design, but it doesn't come cheap. Carpet the ceiling and the walls. Super cheap, super effective. Ideally carpet the floor too - and if you use carpet tiles then when a customer spills something uncleanable on a tile it's a 5 minute non-expert job to pull up a tile and put in a new one.

Maintaining cleanliness can be a challenge

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

#435

Post by interludead »

vidarh wrote: post #192
superultra wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I resorted to wearing earplugs for several years when I was going out more. I felt it did very little to reduce my ability to hear conversations, and it made the whole experience overall so much more pleasant.

Do not know but I use them at times when I have to work in an open world places. It helps.

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

#436

Post by onemoresoop »

ljf wrote: post #370
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…

As an older adult I've realised I most likely have ADHD - I've always struggled to focus in busy places, unless the person has my attention - as soon as we are in a group or people all talking or pitching in, and I can't focus on one face, I'm lost. My hearing is fine (I assume) - but I've come to realise I can't process information when there is too much going on. My family will often have the TV on, games playing o…

Office is indeed distracting. I power through the most noisy times with white noise. I learned to enjoy it and it actually calms me a bit.

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

#437

Post by chefandy »

duped wrote: post #368
countvonbalzac wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't there some cheap ways to muffle sound? Wood floors, rugs, curtains, artwork, acoustic panels, etc.

Honestly the cheapest way to muffle sound is to not create it in the first place. Guests make noise to hear themselves over other guests and the din of the room, the quieter the room, the quieter the guests, etc. Essentially, the louder the noise floor, the louder the signal has to get to be intelligible at every table, which raises the noise floor, creating a feedback loop. Good acoustic design in a space accounts f…

High-end places not only still have bad margins, they're quite often worse!

Low-end places are often even more carefully designed, though, but they're designed for different things: high turnover and low staff wages, meaning simple, flat, easy-to-clean (and sanitize), nearly-zero-maintenance surfaces like bare laminated tabletops and quarry tiles. Especially once you start moving into fast casual, they want their diners comfortable enough to enjoy their meal, but not comfortable enough to linger, which is often a tough balance to strike.

The look of high-end places is like putting your sales people in nice suits. I don't think most places are trying to maximize throughput-- if they're not completely booked at least a few nights per week they're probably not staying open-- I think they're trying to maximize check averages. Nothing inspires "maybe I'll get the dry aged wagyu app and flip to the expensive page in the wine list tonight" thoughts like a luxe dining room.

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

#438

Post by [deleted] »

brulard wrote: post #369
duped wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Carpet the ceiling and the walls. Super cheap, super effective. Super dangerous and illegal, too. The reason that professionals don't do this is because no one will permit it, not because there's some scam on acoustic foam and diffusers... well there is but it's not the acousticians' fault. It's a massive fire hazard.

source? Seems like with this logic, wood, wallpapers etc. would be illegal as well. Doesn't make sense to me

[deleted]

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

#439

Post by chefandy »

duped wrote: post #362
londons_explore wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> restaurants can have good sound design, but it doesn't come cheap. Carpet the ceiling and the walls. Super cheap, super effective. Ideally carpet the floor too - and if you use carpet tiles then when a customer spills something uncleanable on a tile it's a 5 minute non-expert job to pull up a tile and put in a new one.

> Carpet the ceiling and the walls. Super cheap, super effective. Super dangerous and illegal, too. The reason that professionals don't do this is because no one will permit it, not because there's some scam on acoustic foam and diffusers... well there is but it's not the acousticians' fault. It's a massive fire hazard.

> illegal, too.

This is jurisdiction-dependent. Not all jurisdictions in the US, for example, have adopted the IBC, and it's not uncommon to find carpeted walls in movie theaters.

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

#440

Post by fouc »

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…

In neuroplasticity, the saying "nerves that fire together wire together" means that when neurons are activated simultaneously, their connections become stronger. If your life is filled with constant background noise, it can make your brain's ability to distinguish specific sounds less precise. To improve your auditory discrimination, it is helpful to spend time listening to clear, distinct sounds, such as slow classical music. This practice helps to refine and strengthen the neural pathways associated with each sound, enhancing your ability to differentiate between them over time.
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