Collaborate Disseminate
Assistive technology is extremely fertile ground for hackers to make a difference, because of the unique requirements of each user and the high costs of commercial solutions. [Nick] has been working on Earswitch, an innovative assistive tech switch that can be actuated using voluntary movement of the middle ear muscle. …read more
Continue reading Assistive Technolgy Switch is Actuated Using Your Ear Muscles
If you’ve ever been kept awake by that ringing in your ears when everything else is quiet, you’d be familiar with how frustrating tinnitus can be. Now, research led by the University of Arizona may have uncovered a new potential treatment tar… Continue reading Treating brain inflammation could help silence tinnitus
Amongst the challenges faced by the deaf is what’s known as the “cocktail party effect,” in which they have difficulty discerning one speaker’s voice from others in crowded, noisy environments. A new device could help, however – by buzzing tw… Continue reading Device may allow the deaf to "hear through their fingertips"
Some interesting M&A is afoot in the world of hardware and software that’s aiming to improve the quality of audio and video communications over digital networks. GN Group — the Danish company that broke new ground in mobile when it inked deals first with Apple and then Google to stream audio from their phones directly […] Continue reading GN acquires Altia Systems for $125M to add video to its advanced audio solutions
For a century, nobody knew why Satyrini butterflies had inflated veins on their forewings. Turns out the structures are hearing aids. Continue reading These Butterflies Can Hear With Their Wings
We are swimming in radio transmissions from all around, and if you live above the ground floor, they are coming at you from below as well. Humans do not have a sensory organ for recognizing radio signals, but we have lots of hardware which can make sense of it. The chances are good that you are looking at one such device right now. [Frank Swain] has leaped from merely accepting the omnipresent signals from WiFi routers and portable devices to listening in on them. The audio signals are mere soundwaves, so he is not listening to every tweet and email …read more
The West Virginia Senator suggested the idea during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on social media. Continue reading Joe Manchin’s Suggestion of a FOSTA/SESTA Law for Drug Trafficking Is A Terrible Idea
When auditory cells are modified to receive light, do you see sound, or hear light? To some trained gerbils at University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany under the care of [Tobias Moser], the question is moot. The gerbils were instructed to move to a different part of their cage when administrators played a sound, and when cochlear lights were activated on their modified cells, the gerbils obeyed their conditioning and went where they were supposed to go.
In the linked article, there is software which allows you to simulate what it is like to hear through a cochlear implant, or you …read more
Most of us are familiar with the fact that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, is testifying in front of Congress this week regarding Facebook’s mishandling of user data. This hearing is being watched around the globe by corporations, governments, … Continue reading A Nonverbal Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg’s Congress Testimony
“What’s the difference between Facebook and J. Edgar Hoover?” Continue reading Congress chews up Zuckerberg, day two: A far more thorough mastication