iHearBetter-in-Motion: Unlocking communication in motion for hearing-impaired individuals

听力损失是英国第二大最常见的残疾，影响了1100万人(每6人中就有1人受到影响；2015年，听力损失行动)。随着人口老龄化，据估计，到2035年，英国将有超过1560万人患有听力损失(1/5；2015年的听力损失行动)。听觉回路将来自电源(例如，回路系统的麦克风)的声音转化为磁性信号，通过助听器和助听器设置听力回路进行检测和选择性放大。因此，在没有音频干扰(反馈或背景噪声)的情况下，向听障人士(HIIS)呈现感兴趣的声音(例如，在音乐会期间)。然而，听力环路技术不能应用于自然对话，海伊们只能使用放大周围所有声音的设备，这使得它们不适合在嘈杂环境中多人同时说话的环境中使用。如今，尽管英国有670万人可以受益于助听器，但经常使用助听器的人只有200万人(HIIS，2019年)。多项研究发现，人们选择不佩戴助听器的主要原因之一是他们在嘈杂环境中的糟糕表现(McCormack和Fortnum，2013)；“鸡尾酒会效应”。因此，35%以上的75岁以上的Hii在社交场合假装能听到东西，25%的人感到孤立(皇家志愿服务，2018)。这不仅仅是老龄化社区的问题；超过450万的老年人处于工作年龄，其中75%的人认为他们的就业机会因听力损失而受到限制(《关于听力损失的行动》，2015)。在生产力损失和失业方面，听力损失给英国经济造成的经济负担估计为250亿GB/年(布鲁内尔大学伦敦分校，2015年；阿奇博尔德等人，2014年)。在创新英国的资助下(排名46691)，AudioTelligence和剑桥大学开发了改变游戏规则的辅助收听技术，可以实时将感兴趣的语音/声音与背景噪音分开。我们的方法将AudioTelligence获得专利的音频源分离技术(WO2019016494)与剑桥大学的尖端听觉注意力研究相结合。通过将音频源分离算法与听觉注意线索相结合，我们可以自动选择并向最终用户呈现所需的音频源，从而减少/消除背景噪声。然而，我们现有的方法仅适用于静态情况；例如，当Hii坐在会议或餐厅时。在这里，我们将开发新的算法，将我们的方法扩展到HIIS正在移动的情况，解锁HIIS在工作和社交时的交流。

Hearing loss is the second most common disability in the UK, affecting 11M people (1 in 6; Action on Hearing Loss, 2015). With an ageing population, by 2035 it is estimated more than 15.6M people in the UK will have hearing loss (1 in 5; Action on Hearing Loss, 2015).Hearing loops convert sound from electrical sources (e.g., loop system's microphone) into a magnetic signal, which is detected and selectively amplified by hearing aids with hearing-loop settings. Thus, hearing-impaired individuals (HIIs) are presented with the sound-of-interest (e.g., during a concert), without audio interference (feedback or background noise). However, hearing-loop technology cannot be applied in natural conversations and HIIs are left with devices that amplify all surrounding sounds, making them unsuitable for use in environments where more than one person is speaking at the same time in a noisy environment.Today, while 6.7M people in the UK could benefit from hearing aids, only 2M people use them regularly (Hearing Link, 2019). Multiple studies have found that one of the main reasons for people choosing not to wear hearing aids is their poor performance in noisy situations (McCormack and Fortnum, 2013); "cocktail-party effect".Consequently, 35%+ of HIIs aged 75+ get through social occasions pretending they can hear things and 25% feel isolated (Royal Voluntary Service, 2018). This is not just an issue in aging communities; over 4.5M HIIs are working age and c75% of these feel their employment opportunities have been limited by their hearing loss (Action on Hearing Loss, 2015). The economic burden of hearing loss to the UK economy has been estimated at £25 billion/year in lost productivity and unemployment (Brunel University London, 2015; Archbold et al., 2014).With Innovate UK funding (no. 46691), AudioTelligence and the University of Cambridge have developed game-changing assistive listening technology that can separate the voice/sound-of-interest from background noise in real time. Our approach fuses AudioTelligence's patented audio source-separation technologies (WO2019016494) with the University of Cambridge's cutting-edge auditory attention research. By combining audio source-separation algorithms with auditory attention cues, we can automatically select and present the desired audio source to the end user, reducing/eliminating background noise.However, our existing approach is only applicable to static situations; for example, when HIIs are sat down in meetings or in a restaurant. Here, we will develop new algorithms to extend our approach to encompass situations where HIIs are moving, unlocking communication for HIIs at work and when socialising.