Scientists develop software-based hearing aid

Scientists in Germany have developed an algorithm-based hearing aid that could help to improve telephone communication and even listening to music on headphones for people with hearing difficulties.

Created at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Oldenburg, the system attempts to counteract the problem of individuals' varying response to different frequencies of sound.

This can mean that simply increasing the volume causes discomfort as some already-loud waveforms are amplified by too much, while not removing the problem of background noise, the scientists say.

Now, they have created a system which displays two flowers; by tapping these in accordance with their comfort level, listeners can reduce background noise while boosting the frequencies that they have difficulty in hearing.

Developed in part to combat noisy signals in voice over internet protocol communications, the algorithm could find applications both in consumer devices and in the workplace.

The institute suggests that people take for granted their ability to plot a route using GPS, listen to music anywhere they go and be contacted wherever they are - but notes that it is the individual's decision to adopt or reject any one piece of technology.