The bionic earpiece: Development of an advanced digital earpiece for audio and cognitive interfaces

NSERC联盟的这项研究计划将允许入耳技术工业研究主席(CRITIAS)的研究团队与4名共同申请者和6名合作者一起专注于开发一种用于音频和认知接口的高级数字耳机，被称为“仿生耳机”。这项为期五年的研究计划将涵盖软件和硬件开发，在不同的技术准备水平(TRL)，通过填补以前发现的一些知识空白来改进CRITIAS已经开发的技术。第一个重点是开发新的音频和无线信号处理算法，用于高级听力保护和噪声中的通信，以使该研究计划的工业合作伙伴EERS在其战略合作伙伴美国跨国公司3M的支持下，改进其在职业健康和安全领域的产品。第二个重点是助听器和耳内生物传感功能的开发，以支持EERS为其最近在GAFAM中的战略合作伙伴之一在消费者应用方面的研究努力。重点是使用新材料、制造工艺和个性化设计标准来开发具有独特声学和电生理功能的具有卓越舒适性的数字定制入耳式设备。这种仿生耳机将使新的医疗应用和神经听觉技术成为可能，范围从嵌入式诊断到终极人机和脑机接口(BCI)的开发。它将使EERS能够进一步为工业、军事、消费和医疗市场开发创新的听力产品。该计划将受益于EERS提供的6.37亿美元现金捐款和6.67亿美元的实物捐助，并将通过即时拨款和MITACS Accelerate实习集群来利用。通过主席和EERS管理团队的承诺，该项目将为其11名研究生和25名本科生提供扎实的科学、技术和创业培训，从而为加拿大工业在这些领域提供独特且令人垂涎的高素质人才来源。

This NSERC Alliance research program will allow the research team of the industrial research chair in in-ear technologies (CRITIAS) together with 4 co-applicants and 6 collaborators to focus on the development of an advanced digital earpiece for audio and cognitive interfaces, dubbed the "Bionic Earpiece".This five-year research program will cover both software and hardware development, at various Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), to improve technologies already developed by CRITIAS by filling some knowledge gaps previously identified. The first focus is the development of new audio and radio signal processing algorithms for advanced hearing protection and communication in noise to benefit the industrial partner of this research program, EERS, in the improvement of its products in the field of occupational health and safety, with the support of its strategic partner, the American multinational 3M. The second focus is the development of hearing aid and in-ear biosensing functionalities to support EERS's research efforts in consumer applications for one of its recent strategic partners among GAFAM. The focus is on the use of new material, manufacturing processes and individualized design criteria for the development of a digital custom-fitted in-ear device of superior comfort with unique acoustics and electrophysiological capabilities. Such "bionic earpiece" will enable new medical applications and neuro-auditory technologies ranging from embedded diagnostics to the development of ultimate human-machine and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). It will enable EERS to further develop innovative hearing products for the industrial, military, consumer and medical markets.The program will benefit from the $637k cash contribution and the $667k in-kind received from EERS and will be also leveraged by a PROMPT grant and a MITACS Accelerate internship cluster. Through the commitment of its chairholder and that of the EERS management team, this program will provide its 11 graduate and 25 undergrad students with a solid scientific, technical and entrepreneurial training and thus gives Canadian industry a unique and coveted source of Highly Qualified Personnel in these domains.