Cost-effective hearing aids (smartphone + standard earphones) - For the moments worth listening

My grandmother cannot listen to me on the other side of the phone.

With you help, we can solve the problem: building an APP to compensate for her hearing limitations.

Well, as she'll not use a smatphone easily (only for the callings), we want also to build a dedicated box with the required electronics to catch the sound, apply the required filters (actually the individual hearing function is called an "audiogram"), that can be prepared in a easy fashion also with the APP (with NO need to go to a doctor or audiology professional).

The small box, can be worn close to the chest or placed on a table. The box can catch the environment sound (conversation, TV, music...), compensate the sound and sen it to regular earphones (either by cable or wireless).

The box will have a set of microphones, filtering electronics, a battery and a battery management system, a micro-processor, couple of buttons, Bluetooth/Wi-fi connection and the required input and output ports.

There are millions of persons with hearing loss, either mild, moderate or severe. For the two first cases, there are plenty of hearing aids available on the market. The cost of the conventional miniaturized hearing aids solutions can vary from $1,000 to more than $6,000, being the average cost close to $2,500 per hear (source). We believe that it's time to make hearing aid solutions accessible to everyone.

Why that huge price? It's not about technology. We know this because it is our area of ​​expertise. The reasons for the price is mainly to have a big profit. Far enough, but we will do it diferently, because we want reach out everyone that needs have hearing loss. We want to maximize the positive impact on people, rather than the profit, offering free access to hearing aid APP - using standard earphones and making the audiological profile in the APP - and low cost small boxes (less than $120).

The reason for the big prices on conventional hearing aids are also explained because the price includes a set of services: the miniturized hearing aid itself (this can be produced very cheaply, by the way), the production of the necessary hearing tests, hearing aid fitting, further adjustments to the hearing aid along the time, routine cleaning, maintenance services, and others. Breaking news: we want to change the paradigm! Even for a line of conventional miniaturized hearing aids, you pay less than 120$ and you pay $30 for each possible visit to one of our partners to adjust or get any help on the device usage.

LYNX Solutions (we call "Lynx" to our line of solutions): use standard earphones connected to a smartphone or use a Lynx Box to access high quality audio processing features, allowing the user to experience the same or better hearing aid, tailored to the user needs and preferences, at a reduced price.

With the processing power or modern smartphones, the low cost of consumer electronics, and my knowledge and knowledge of the friends that I've gettered, I'm pretty sure we can provide the society with low-cost hearing aids, for the moments that are worth listening.

We've also envisioned the LYNX Glasses with built-in bone conduction headphones, featuring embedded microphones, a local signal processer, ensuring discreet and comfortable hearing aid.

We are a dream team of 6 members with proven work on technological projects (provision of services to companies and R&D), both in the development, management, delivery and maintenance.

Members: 3 PhDs (Computer Science, Physical Engineering - instrumentation branch, and Neuroscience) and 3 MsC (2 Electrotecnical Engeneering, and 1 Physioterapy and Medicine student).

Expertise: project management, marketing, signal processing, deep learning (AI), mobile development, advanced 3D printing, electronics and contact with elder people (both clinical and as volunteers in nursing homes).

Finally, as we are experts on building audiograms (the individual hearing function), we can sell our software as a service (SaaS) or build an API (interface to our functions) to be accessed by the Cloud: storing user settings for streaming services (Spotify, Netflix) that can apply the compensation the hearing loss of the clients with that service activated. The Cloud may also allow access to professionals to monitor audio settings, Share audiograms and audio preferences with other services and allow changes to audio settings across cloud capable devices, through an API (interface to our functions).

We want to maximize the social impact of our solution, rather than the profit.

We estimate that we can sell the LYNX Box for less than 120 USD.

The APP will be free. A Premium version will have a monthly subscription and will allow to save unlimited number of audio profiles (audiograms), for the different sound environments. Moreover, advanced features, as noise cancelation, speech recognition to focus on that person or cancel own eco, detection of sound direction to synthesize stereo sound already compensated with the individual audiogram, and more.

To reach out all the people and have a structure that answers the demands, we're thinking to launch a social innovation STARTUP.

Your help would be very much appreciated :)

Send us a mail to [email protected] and be one of the first to test the APP and to recieve the first version of the Box.

Thank you!

Best regards,

OUVE-ME.PT Team (as we are not already a company - we need your help for this - don't be surprised if the change the company name. We'll keep the current email address 'cause we don't want to miss any of your messages)

(LYNX hearing solutions)