New TV sound system for hearing-impaired

A researcher at University of Southampton in Britain has developed a loudspeaker system to help people with hearing problems listen to television without affecting the sound for other viewers.

The loudspeaker design aims to compensate for the hearing loss of a 70-year-old adult.

"My array uses individual loudspeaker elements that are specially designed first-order acoustic radiators...thus saving cost and improving the robustness of the array," said Marcos Simón, researcher from Institute of Sound and Vibration Research.

Marcos's loudspeaker design, which comprises eight phase-shift sources in a line, aims to compensate for the hearing loss of a 70-year-old adult.

The acoustical radiators send a boosted version of the TV audio towards one location, where a hearing impaired TV listener is present.

Other listeners with healthy hearing are placed at positions where they do not listen to the amplification provided by the array.

The operation of the array has been tested by performing behavioural experiments in a normal room.