Saturday, October 13, 2012: 7:20 PM
Hall 4E/F (WSCC)
Hearing loss affects and will continue to affection a great number of people in the world. It is estimated that 17% (36 million) of the population has some type of hearing disability6. Current solutions come in the form of external hearing aids that are both costly and visually un-appealing8,7. This project attempts to solve both of these problems by leveraging commodity, off-the-shelf products to aid in restoring adequate hearing levels to smartphone users with hearing disabilities. AudioAid, a mobile application, accomplishes this by using mobile phone and blue-tooth headset technologies, providing smartphone users with hearing impairments a discrete alternative to conventional hearing aids. AudioAid runs on Google’s Android Platform, which was chosen as the platform of choice because of 1) ease of deployment, 2) market share and, 3) quality and flexibility3. AudioAid provides hearing assistance1 via a smart phone application or “App” that amplifies and filters surrounding audio4 obtained through the device’s built-in microphone before being transmitted back to the users headset. The ubiquitous nature of the blue-tooth headset removes any negative stereotype or stigma associated5 with hearing disability. AudioAid will have a positive effect on the lives of youths and adults with impaired hearing by encouraging hearing loss awareness. Preliminary testing of the audio sub-system on a Smartphone running the Android 2.2 OS over a Bluetooth headset yielded a listening range of 15 feet at standard conversational levels, proving suitable for this application. Further testing should be conducted to garner additional conclusive information.