CAREER: Ubiquitous Earable Sensing Using Low-Cost Earphones

低成本耳机经常作为智能手机和笔记本电脑的免费配件赠送，导致供应过剩。然而，与拥有完善回收生态系统的智能手机和笔记本电脑相比，这些低成本耳机往往最终被丢弃在抽屉或存储单元中，加剧了电子垃圾的问题。NSF CAREER项目的驱动愿景是开发基于系统的方法，将数十亿这样的废弃耳机转变为便携式和广泛使用的以人为中心的传感设备。该研究项目有三个目标：(i)基于废弃耳机开发针对服务不足地区量身定制的超低成本人类生命体征传感系统；（ii）设计新颖的耳旁传感算法和应用，推进声学传感和计算研究；（三）建立一个开源的“可听”传感和计算平台，用于开发移动计算课程系统。该项目将为电子废物的回收和再利用创造一种全面的方法，同时培养创新和可持续发展的文化。发达的系统将使健康监测大众化，使那些可能无法获得昂贵的可穿戴设备或医疗设备的个人能够跟踪他们的健康状况，并主动采取措施实现健康。这个项目的跨学科性质也将为学生提供一个独特的机会来获得跨越硬件软件系统边界的知识，为研究生和本科生创造研究机会，并向高中生和代表性不足的群体推广科学和工程研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Low-cost earphones are frequently given out as complimentary accessories for smartphones and laptops, leading to an excessive supply. However, in contrast to smartphones and laptops with well-established recycling ecosystems, these low-cost earphones often end up discarded in drawers or storage units, adding to the problem of electronic waste. The driving vision of this NSF CAREER project is to develop system-based approaches to transforming billions of such abandoned earphones into portable and widely accessible human-centric sensing devices. The research project has three goals: (i) Developing ultra-low-cost human vital sign sensing systems tailored for underserved regions based on abandoned earphones; (ii) designing novel around-the-ear sensing algorithms and applications, advancing acoustic sensing and computing research; and (iii) building an open-source “earable” sensing and computing platform for developing systems for mobile computing curriculum. This project will create a holistic approach toward recycling and repurposing electronic waste, while fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability. The developed systems will democratize health monitoring, enabling individuals who may not have access to expensive wearables or medical devices to track their health and take proactive steps toward well-being. The interdisciplinary nature of this project will also provide students with a unique opportunity to gain knowledge across the hardware-software system boundary, creating research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students, and promoting science and engineering studies to high-school students and underrepresented groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.