Marcos Simon, a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, has developed a high-volume speaker system that is capable of projecting high-volume audio to specific spots in a room. If you've ever been in a situation where you're watching TV with a group of people and one of them likes to have it turned up really loud, you'll know how this kind of invention might be useful.
These high-volume speakers are actually designed keeping in mind senior citizens who suffer from hearing loss. The system consists of an array of eight loudspeakers arranged in a line -- a line array -- that can focus hot spots of sound to specific areas.
In tests, the array was shown to increase partially def people's ability to understand played-back human speech by 30% without disturbing non-deaf people seated nearby.
Hotspot-Seeking Speakers
These High-Volume Speakers Focus Sound To Specific Areas
Trend Themes
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Assistive Audio Solutions — Opportunity to provide innovative solutions for senior citizens with hearing loss, such as the development of high-volume speakers designed to enhance their ability to understand speech.
Industry Implications
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Audio Equipment — Disruptive innovation opportunity in the audio equipment industry through the development of high-volume speakers that can project sound to specific spots.
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Healthcare Technology — Opportunity to disrupt the healthcare technology industry by creating targeted sound systems that can assist individuals with hearing loss.
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