HCC-Small: Assistive Listening Devices and Voice Processing Platforms for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

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This research aims to develop assistive listening devices and voice processing platforms that facilitate communication with the deaf and hard of hearing. To achieve this goal, the PI and his team will both adapt existing technologies in speech processing and pattern recognition, and lay the foundation for entirely novel forms of human-computer interaction. Specific devices and platforms that will be developed will be drawn from the following five categories. (1) A dialogue interpreter that facilitates the inclusion of deaf users in dual or multi-speaker conversations; the conversations are assumed to take place at a table (in the home or office), which accommodates CPUs for speech recognition and monitors for display. (2) A voice monitor that provides hard-of-hearing users with immediate, subtle feedback on the level of their vocal projections; without this feedback, inappropriate modulation can introduce awkwardness in social interactions, leading over time to withdrawal and isolation. (3) A voice compass that provides rapid directional notification during multi-speaker conversation; such a device would assist deaf lip-readers who cannot otherwise track the turns of different speakers (lip reading in this setting presumes the ability to know where to look). (4) An audio event detector that recognizes salient words, prompts, and sounds in the user's environment; such a device could notify users with hearing loss to someone calling their name or to important work-related sounds, thus reducing frustrations and boosting employability. (5) A wearable transmitter/receiver that uses primitive speech recognition to allow a user with speech and hearing to communicate simple words to a late deafened love one; such a device would complement residual hearing, gestures, and lip-reading.Broader Impacts: Over 35 million Americans have some form of hearing loss. Moreover, one-fifth of these cases are estimated to involve severe or profound hearing loss. Incidence of hearing loss increases with age: it affects roughly 2% of children under age 18 but over 30% of adults over age 65. Thus, the percentage of affected adults will grow with the aging of the baby-boomer generation. There is a tremendous need for better integration of people with hearing loss in the home, community, and workplace. Extreme barriers in communication often exist between members of the Deaf community and the hearing population. Even within a single household, these barriers can create a desperate sense of isolation for a family member who is deaf. In the workplace, the members of the Deaf community are as able-bodied as the rest of the population, but difficulties in communication create barriers to optimal employment and retention in current positions.