A mobile application that works as a hearing aid

For people who have mild to moderate hearing impairment, there is now an app that will make sound loud and clear, be it in a one-on-one or a group conversation. Called MobileEars, it makes use of a unique speech-amplification technology and focuses on speech clarity, noise cancellation, filtering and removal of unwanted background noise. The product is the result of years of collaborative work by Listen AS and Norwegian research organisation SINTEF. The manufacturers hope this will be hugely beneficial to many people who are inhibited from buying hearing aids by factors such as stigma, lack of easy availability of the aids, their high cost, among other reasons. “MobileEars is easy to use, requires no special devices, is beneficial for people of all ages, and suitable for indoor as well as outdoor sound environments,” said Snorre Vevstad, CEO, Listen AS. Available on iTunes, open the app to enter the user’s age and gender, so that it can customise the listener’s experience. Plug in earphones and move the button on the slider to personalise the sound for maximum speech clarity and amplification.