Google has announced a new initiative aimed at exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to develop customized hearing healthcare solutions. The partnership, which involves five organizations in the healthcare, research and technology sectors, including Cochlear, Macquarie University Hearing, National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), NextSense, and The Shepherd Centre, will focus on developing new listening and communication technologies that are accessible and useful for everyone.
The first project under the Digital Future Initiative seeks to personalize hearing models to better address individual listening needs to enhance hearing aids and other listening devices.
The technology developed through this initiative could be especially beneficial for people using listening devices in complex listening environments such as busy restaurants, group brainstorming sessions, or live orchestral performances. The overlapping sounds in these settings can make it strenuous or overwhelming for people using these devices to process and decipher various types of sound.
The partnership builds on Google’s long-standing commitment to making the world more accessible for people with deafness or hearing loss.
A Legacy of Innovation in Hearing Technology
Australia has a rich history in building more accessible hearing technology. The cochlear implant, developed in Australia, has become the gold standard for hearing clinical protocols, diagnostics, and treatments for people living with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.
For 75 years, NAL has set global standards to assess hearing impairment, developing hearing healthcare innovations and the most widely used prescription software by audiologists in the world today. Through NextSense, Australia has one of the world’s largest and most established cochlear implant programs and has pioneered the use of telepractice.
The new initiative aims to ensure that underlying hearing technology is accessible and useful for everyone. The partnership will focus on developing new applications of AI and machine learning to overcome current challenges and pave the way for more customized hearing healthcare.
Prof Greg Leigh AO (NextSense), Dr Simon Carlile (Google Research), Prof David McAlpine (Macquarie University), Dr Zachary Smith (Cochlear), Prof Catherine McMahon (Macquarie University), Dr Aleisha Davis (Shepherd Centre), Dr Malcolm Slaney (Google Research), Sam Sepah (Google Research), Dr Brent Edwards (National Acoustic Laboratories)
The collaboration highlights the importance of a multi-sectoral approach in developing innovative solutions to complex health challenges.
As long as there are barriers, there is still work to be done, and this initiative is a step towards addressing these barriers and ensuring that people with hearing loss can access the technologies they need. With Google’s commitment to accessibility, the partnership will build on existing work and design tools with and for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Source: Google
