The clattering of the cutlery, booming music, and buzz of other people’s conversations overpower the voice of my dining companion. It’s our anniversary, but the dinner feels anything but romantic. If only my hearing aids helped me hone in on the voice I wanted to hear, blocking the rest of the noise from my auditory space. A pipe dream? Maybe with current devices, but if researchers at University of Washington can fine-tune their “Target Speech Hearing” AI tool, I might one day get my wish.
New AI Technology Isolates Specific Voices
Researchers at University of Washington have developed an AI system that isolates a single speaker’s voice clearly, even in a noisy environment with many people talking. For now, the process involves wearing specially programmed headphones but over time, the technology could find its way into hearing devices of all types.
The process is simple. The headphone wearer simply looks at the person for three to five seconds to “enroll” them, and then the AI does the rest—canceling the other sounds in the environment and playing just the enrolled speaker’s voice in real time. Even if the listener moves away from the speaker or no longer faces them, the effect remains.
The system is not yet commercially available but the code for the proof-of-concept device is available online for others to use. Hopefully, this transparency will inspire others to test and develop additional technologies of this sort.
How it works
The key to sound isolation is looking at the person that you want to hear. When you do, the sound waves from that speaker’s voice reach the microphones on both sides of the headset simultaneously signaling the AI to focus on that speaker’s vocal patterns. As the speaker continues to talk giving the system more training data, the system’s ability to focus on the voice improves.
More research is needed, but initial results are promising. The team tested its system on 21 subjects, who rated the clarity of the enrolled speaker’s voice nearly twice as high as the unfiltered audio on average. Currently, the system only works for one voice at a time. There also are problems if there is more than one loud voice coming from the same direction. But the work continues with improvements expected over time.
Read more about this new technology here.
Hearing Aids of the Future
Many years ago, I asked, “What If You Could Construct Your Ideal Hearing Aid.” One of the features I imagined was exactly this one—honing in on the specific voices that you wanted to hear. At the time it seemed far out of reach, but as technology improves, so do our opportunities for better communication.
Readers, would you use a device to isolate specific voices in noisy spaces?
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Best way to eliminate loud noise in restaurants etc is to turn your hearing aid off and start lip reading LOL. That loud amplified noise coming into your aid is very damaging anyway . JMO
Technology is getting better all the time! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
The promises of AI for us sound amazing!!! It makes me happy to know that even if things don’t improve in time for me to benefit, those who are younger & HOH could very well benefit! 🙂
It is exciting! Thank you for your comment.
Would this work at a conference in an auditorium or at a church with a minister?
Great question! A remote microphone might still work better when a speaker is far away, but perhaps over time. Thank you for your question.
Conversely, will we be able to program it to disconnect those irritating voices we want to avoid? You know, like the one coming from the other room – “Did you buy the theater tickets yet?” “My mother’s coming in Friday, for a two-week visit.” “Remember the cat’s pedicure appointment at 2:00 pm tomorrow.”
Just askin’. 😄
LOL! Never say never! Thanks for your comment.
I want to suggest the Pocketalker. When I go to lunch with friends, I put it on the table and I can hear them much better! It’s on Amazon. It would be better if they added Bluetooth, but for now–such a help.
Thank you for sharing what works for you.
I have a cochlear implant these days and find the same problems in noisy environments like restaurants, outside walking with friends on a breezy day, movie theatre with people opening candy wrappers and crunching popcorn…
Your article gives me hope.
Thank you Shari!
So glad. Me too! Thank you for your comment.