More than three million people in Germany depend on technical hearing aids. Without them, the people affected are severely restricted in their everyday lives and often suffer from social isolation. Hearing aids have long been more than just amplifiers: they are becoming increasingly capable of emulating human hearing, but they fall short in situations with high noise levels. For example, the wearer can no longer understand the person opposite them when the background noise level is high. This is also known as the “cocktail party effect”.

The work group headed by Daniel J. Strauss at Saarland University of Applied Sciences therefore wants to develop hearing aids that not only adapt dynamically to the acoustic environment, but also to the wearer’s desired hearing intention. To this end, an attention-controlled brain–microphone interface will first be implemented as a development platform for these novel hearing systems. The researchers measure the voltage fluctuations on the surface of a test individual’s head. Using special signal-processing techniques, this information is then processed in such a way that it can be used to control a directional microphone, for example to concentrate on a single conversation partner.

An independent microphone simultaneously analyses the acoustic environment and can intervene in the control system if necessary. This combined approach prevents, for example, the overhearing of warning signals. The aim is to replicate the conscious and unconscious processes of attention in directional hearing as accurately as possible. In a subsequent step, the technology is to be scaled down and integrated into hearing systems in cooperation with partners from industry and research in order to improve the quality of life of hearing-impaired people.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting the research project with about 432,000 euros within the framework of IngenieurNachwuchs as part of the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences programme.