ACEHearing: The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Ximplar Limited
A group of hearing health professionals, including ear, nose and throat doctors, audiologists and sound engineers, have teamed up to tackle the wide and underserved market of people who have some hearing loss, but not necessarily enough to require a hearing aid.
ACEHearing is a hearing enhancement technology and the only end-to-end solution in the market. The technology was jointly researched and developed through collaboration between The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Ximplar Limited, with advice from experts from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority and the Prince of Wales Hospital.
ACEHearing is hardware-independent, and is developed to run on smartphones, computers, consumer electronics and network servers and switches. The technology offers an audiologist-grade hearing test that is self-administered by the user, then automatically enhances sound based on the hearing test results and specific hearing profile of the user. All sounds – live conversations, phone calls, music, and other forms of entertainment – are customized to restore the user’s hearing whole.
According to the World Health Organization, about 300 million people worldwide currently suffer from moderate to severe hearing loss, and this number is expected to increase to 700 million by the year 2015. Even more people are not aware that their hearing experience is sub-optimal and can be vastly improved. ACEHearing is specifically designed to help the world hear optimally with absolute ease.
ACEHearing will be able to help a wide spectrum of people, from those with a small amount of hearing loss to people with severe hearing loss, according to Prof. Van Hasselt. And although ACEHearing isn’t meant to replace hearing aids, it could prove useful to those who already have them, as it eliminates the need to wear a hearing device while on the phone, thus eradicating annoying and sometimes painful telephone signal interference. The team hopes to move beyond smartphones in the near future, and implant the ACEHearing firmware in headsets, earphones, MP3 players and even telephone servers and switchboards.
Dr. Anna Kam
Assistant Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, CUHK
Co-Inventor of ACEHearing
Anna is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is an Assistant Director of the Institute of Human Communicative Research, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Anna is an audiologist and also has a bachelor degree in speech pathology. She was the Vice-Chairperson of the Hong Kong Society of Audiology during 2000-2004 and she is the Chairperson of the Continuing Professional Development Board of the Hong Kong Society of Audiology (2011-2014). Her research interests include advanced technologies in aural rehabilitation, tinnitus treatment and auditory processing.
ACEHearing and Dr. Anna Kam have my vote! Sign me on immediately. This will change the world for the better and greatly improve the lives of so many millions of people! By enabling individuals to hear sounds that they never heard before or no longer hear, you are opening a whole new world to them! Trust me, I know. That is the greatest gift in life other than life itself and that is why ACEHearing has my overall vote!