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BeHear ACCESS: Interview with Alexander Goldin
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Veröffentlicht am May 24, 2021
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In the past, we reviewed the BeHear NOW personal sound amplifier, and even compared it with the Bose Hearphones. BeHear is back with an upgraded version of their neckband amplifier, dubbed the BeHear ACCESS, that offers multiple improvements over the BeHear NOW:
To learn more about the differences, we recently connected with Dr. Alexander Goldin, CEO of Alango Technologies, Ltd., the company behind BeHear.
Dr. Goldin: Understanding speech in places with noisy backgrounds is especially difficult for those with impaired hearing. To tackle this challenge Alango has integrated Sound Focus in BeHear ACCESS. Sound Focus is an innovative technology for directional hearing that amplifies sounds which originate from specific directions. Sound Focus significantly improves comprehension of spoken language by reducing amplification of distracting noises.
Dr. Goldin: BeHear ACCESS employs four microphones (one in each ear bud and one in each control box). Using proprietary Alango technology, the difference in the time it takes for sound from the source to arrive to each of the microphones is measured to determine different “sound regions”. These regions have been divided into three types of directionality: narrow, wide, and omni.
Dr. Goldin: Depending on the current listening environment, and the desire of the listener, any of the three directionality settings can be applied to the active BeHear ACCESS hearing profile (Indoor, Outdoor, Crowd, Live Music). The three types are defined as follows:
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Dr. Goldin: The sound focus function is available for the live hearing mode in BeHear ACCESS. The default sound focus settings are as follows:
Dr. Goldin: Users can change the default settings using the W&H BeHear app by tapping the “equalizer” icon at the bottom of the Home screen, just above the menu options, and selecting one of the three sound focus icons.
Dr. Goldin: A typical downside of wearing a pair of earbuds is the “occlusion effect”; a perceived echo of your own voice when your ear canal is sealed. Some people can get used to this phenomenon over time (their brains learn to disregard it as unimportant) while for others it totally ruins the hearing amplification experience.
Dr. Goldin: Due to its proximity to the microphones in the control boxes the speaker’s voice can identified and separated from the other sound sources. A graduated function with four different levels attenuates the occlusion effect, reducing the degree to which the ACCESS user hears their own voice.
Dr. Goldin: CROS (Contralateral Routing Of Signal) and BiCROS (Bilateral microphones with Contralateral Routing Of Signal) are methods for providing a complete sound experience for those who suffer from single-sided deafness. CROS aids those who have no hearing in one ear and close to perfect hearing in the other ear; BiCROS aids those who have no hearing in one ear and mild-to-moderately-severe hearing loss in the other ear. CROS/BiCROS functionality is typically found only in high-end hearing aids.
Dr. Goldin: Sound that reaches the BeHear ACCESS microphones on the non-hearing side is transferred to the speaker in the ear bud of the hearing ear. Users selecting CROS will hear the sound signals without amplification, while those selecting BiCROS will receive the sound signals after personalized amplification algorithms, suiting the requirements of the hearing ear, have been applied.
Dr. Goldin: The function takes effect for all hearing modes: Personal Hearing, Mobile Calls, and Audio Play.
Dr. Goldin: During audio playback via stereo headphones a listener with two healthy ears will hear different left and right audio streams, simulating a live listening situation. If one ear is damaged, the listener will hear only part of the music being streamed. BeHear ACCESS overcomes this disadvantage by automatically mixing all the audio down to mono and reproducing it in the functional ear, thus allowing people with unilateral hearing to enjoy the full sound spectrum without missing the channel corresponding to the other, damaged side.
A more detailed explanation of the technology described in this interview can be referred to Dr. Goldin’s recent LinkedIn post.
Dr. Bailey ist ein führender Experte für Verbrauchertechnologie in der Audiologie-Branche. Er ist ein überzeugter Befürworter von patientenzentrierter Hörklinik und audiologischen Best Practices und begrüßt alle technologischen Innovationen, die den Zugang zu qualitativ hochwertigen Hörergebnissen verbessern. Dr. Bailey hält einen Au.D. vom Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
