Premiering on March 28, 2023, on “This Week in Hearing’s Podcast” hosted by Dave Kemp, our Founder and CTO, Naeem Komeilipoor, reveals the inspiration behind AAVAA and how he came up with the idea. He shares that his grandparents’ struggle with hearing impairment motivated him, and he emphasizes that the long-standing challenge known as the “cocktail party effect” has yet to be effectively solved.

While some methods have attempted to address this issue by using signal processing devices or AI to enhance the brain’s natural auditory system, they have not fully succeeded. AAVAA, on the other hand, takes a unique approach. It begins by decoding the user’s brain activity and bio-signals to determine their focus, gaze, or the specific sound they are paying attention to. This information guides the speech enhancement AI algorithms, resulting in an improved desired sound and reduced noise.

AAVAA allows users to directly select the sounds they want to hear, effectively restoring hearing ability to the hearing impaired. It enables hearables to replicate the brain’s ability to focus on a single sound, extending the brain’s natural sound processing capabilities to the device.

AAVAA’s breakthrough technology – enabled by decoding bioelectrical activity coming from the user’s brain, eyes, and facial muscles – has many applications in different industries. It can enable individuals with limited mobility, such as quadriplegics, to steer their wheelchair left or right by simply turning their head or initiate a feeding robot by blinking. AAVAA wearables offer a distinct experience in virtual, augmented, and extended reality environments by allowing users to interact with menu bars through micro facial gestures and nods. The technology further allows smart consumer electronic devices to be controlled using a user’s brain, biosignals, or micro facial gestures, offering endless possibilities for future development.