Smart Control of Hearing Aid Using EEG

Abstract

In this work, we experimented with the use of EEG signal to control a beamforming function of a hearing aid. An external EEG sensing system was designed and paired with a hearing aid. EEG signal was continuously read, with artifacts resulted from intentional eye blinks interpreted based on our average and variance model to identify the wearer’s intention to change the mode of the hearing aid. Based on the received command, the hearing aid would function either in an Omni-directional fashion, or directionally based on the designed beam forming structure. Experiments on experienced EEG users and volunteers were carried out to collect data to develop our decision model. The volunteers group was then retested to confirm the accuracy of the developed model. It was found that, in the controlled situation 100% accuracy was achieved, indicating the potential use of EEG as an enabler for smart control of hearing aid.