Articles

A recently launched app called Signapse uses AI generated images to translate train announcements into British Sign Language (BSL). It seems that not a month goes by now without a new app being launched to support deaf and hard of hearing people enjoy more accessible travel, take a more active part in public events, or receive better healthcare treatment. The rise of artificial intelligence – or AI – has a lot to do with it. While many people have understandable concerns about the uses of AI, there are certainly many areas where it can be a major force for good. Take a recently launched app called Signapse, which uses AI…

National Audiology Awareness Month! October marks the start of National Audiology Awareness Month – yes, we get our very own awareness month – and an opportunity to highlight the important role loved ones play in your support when you have hearing loss. At The Hearing Clinic we always encourage patients to bring a partner or other loved one along to appointments so we can hear first-hand how their hearing loss manifests in day-to-day life with their nearest and dearest. Remember, family members are usually well aware of a person’s hearing loss long before the person themselves. We also like to speak to family members because they can tell us how…

What’s all the fuss about the deep neural network? If you’ve been worrying about the potential for artificial intelligence – or AI – to take over the world, there’s one area where it can only be a force for good. That’s in hearing aids.  The latest high-end models use a deep neural network, or DNN, to deliver very clear speech recognition in noise – typically one of the hardest jobs of a hearing aid.  The DNN uses highly sophisticated, multi-layered modelling to process data in a way that’s inspired by the human brain. Once the system has been trained to recognise what it needs to, it can make predictions and…

While Tre didn’t become Lord Sugar’s next business partner, there’s one thing he is boss of – his tinnitus! If you caught the last series of The Apprentice, which concluded in the spring, you’ll have seen musician and entrepreneur, Tre Lowe, make it through to the semi-final. While Tre didn’t become Lord Sugar’s next business partner, there’s one thing he is boss of – his tinnitus. Tre has lived with tinnitus – a ringing, buzzing or roaring in the ears, which has no external source – since he was 15 and is keen to share his experience of the condition to help others. Tre describes his multifrequency tinnitus as so…

Deaf audiences are being excluded from fully experiencing the films they see because of issues with captioning – that’s according to research from the University of Sheffield. The study found that poor quality captions meant deaf audiences couldn’t experience elements like suspense. In some films, the descriptions of sound lacked specific information key to the plot and therefore affected how much suspense deaf audiences felt during the film. However, good things are possible and have been done on some films or TV series. For example, on the Stranger Things series, the captioners worked with orchestrators to choose the best descriptions of sound to help deaf audiences best experience relevant moments.…