Washington

1. Smart Hearing Apps and Devices
with PETRALEX
Presenter: Maksim Vashkevich
(PhD, associate professor Belarusian State
University of Informatics and Radioelectronics)

2. About us
• ITFORYOU (Moscow, Russian
Federation)
• National Centre of
Otolaryngology (Belarus, Minsk)
• Belarusian State University of
Informatics and Radioelectronics

3. Research activities
We develop technologies to improve the quality
of sound perception. This interdisciplinary
problem implies research in different areas:
- Psychoacoustics
- Speech production
- Digital signal processing

4. OUR PROJECTS
PETRALEX®
Applications for people with hearing loss.
www.petralex.pro
PETRALEX Speech Communication
Voice and hearing improvement technology for call-center agents.
www.petralexsolutioms.com
UrbanDenoiser Player
Audio player, adapting sound to the user's hearing features and
ambient noise.
www.urbandenoiser.com
SingAssist Karaoke
Perfect vocal transformation technology.
www.singassist.com
Conference Denoiser
It allows users to listen to interlocutors with comfort in ambient noise
and improves the quality of speech.
http://conferencedenoiser.com/

5. Scientific staff
2 Doctors of technical sciences (full PhD)
3 candidates of technical sciences (PhD)
1 Physician otolaryngologist
1 Researcher (linguist)

6. The idea: hearing aid on
Smartphone
• Due to wide spreading
of hearing loss in
modern society we
realized that a
software hearing aid,
compatible with
widely used
multimedia devices,
might have a
significant social
impact.

7. Smartphone based hearing aid:
advantages
• Smartphone based HA fully self-fitting
device
• Large-size controls for people with
limited motor function
• Possibility to use different headsets
according to user preference
• Powerful computational platform allows
using sophisticated processing
algorithms

8. Software hearing aid: scheme
• Designed software integrated into smartphone
system

9. Petralex: low delay processing

10. Self-fitting: the key to success
• Setting up a software hearing aid does not
require a specialist
• in situ audiometry: the same headphones use
to determine hearing thresholds (HT) and for
sound reproduction

11. Petralex Hearing Aid: history
• Mobile app Petralex hearing aid
for iPhone/Android has been
distributed since Feb. 2014
75 000
Downloads
225 000
Downloads

12. Petralex: hearing loss compensation
Hearing loss Petralex (NAL)

13. PETRALEX
NUMBER 1 on Google
search “Hearing Aid App”
One of the TOP 10
Hearing Aid Apps in
AppStore and
GooglePlay
Lifehacker: Smartphone as an alternative to hearing aid
http://blog.petralex.pro/post/105435577592/lifehacker-smartphone-as-an-alternative-to
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Other-AUDIO-Tools/PETRALEX.shtml
Petralex By IT ForYou Identified As #1 Hearing Aid App
http://www.prweb.com/releases/appshout/petralex/prweb13248274.htm
70+ Best Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Apps For Your Ears
http://www.everydayhearing.com/hearing-technology/articles/hearing-loss-tinnitus-apps/
PRESS ABOUT PETRALEX

14. PETRALEX in education
• In 2016 scientific journal
“Education and Information Technologies”
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Rated Petralex as a powerful hearing assistance technology
for e-lerning purpose.

15. Comparative Analysis of Hearing Aid Applications
* iPhone 6+ (iOS 9.2), ** Samsung Gt-19500 (Android 4.2.2), *** as of the testing date (28/01/2016),
**** in the paid edition, ***** using an additional application
Petralex uSound Enhanced
Ears
EQ
HearAid
Ear Spy Jacoti
ListenApp
BioAid Lite Hearing
Aid
Hearing
Aid
Amply
Phone
Signal
delay
20 ms***
200ms***
35 ms***
290ms***
20 ms*** 80 ms*** 70 ms***
205ms***
30 ms*** 30ms***
215ms***
90 ms*** 70 ms***
Programmable
hearing aid
+ + + − − + − − − −
In situ
audiometry
+ + + +/- − +***** − − − −
Number of
channels
- 7 6 10 − 7***** − − − −
Nonlinear
hearing aid
+ − − − − − − − − −
Wide Dynamic
Range
Compressor
+ − − − − − − − − −

16. Comparative Analysis of Hearing Aid Applications
* iPhone 6+ (iOS 9.2), ** Samsung Gt-19500 (Android 4.2.2), *** as of the testing date (28/01/2016),
**** in the paid edition, ***** using an additional application
Petralex uSound Enhanced
Ears
EQ
HearAid
Ear Spy Jacoti
ListenApp
BioAid Lite Hearing
Aid
Hearing
Aid
Amply
Phone
Adjustment of
the compression
rate
+ - - - - - - - - -
Choice of the
amplification
formula
+ - - - - - - - - -
Capability of
adaptation to
the environment
+ + + + + + + + - -
Noise suppression
feature
- + + + +**** - + + - -
Acoustic
feedback
suppression
feature
+ - - - - - - - - -

17. Comparative Analysis of Hearing Aid Applications
* iPhone 6+ (iOS 9.2), ** Samsung Gt-19500 (Android 4.2.2), *** as of the testing date (28/01/2016),
**** in the paid edition, ***** using an additional application
Petralex uSound Enhanced
Ears
EQ
HearAid
Ear Spy Jacoti
ListenApp
BioAid Lite Hearing
Aid
Hearing
Aid
Amply
Phone
Bluetooth
headsets
support
+
+
-
+ - -
+
+ -
+
-
-
+
+
-
Integrated voice
recorder
- - - - +**** - - + - +
Price FREE $30/ per
year
$2.99 $1.99 $3.99 FREE FREE $2.99 $1.99 $1.99
Ad-free application
+ + + + - + + + - +
Rating 4.0
4.0
-
3.6 - -
3.5
3.6 - - 3.7 - -

18. The common project of the Petralex
Team and the CCT "Specialist" - the
leading computing training center in the
CEE Region - was recognized as the
best learning program tool by LERN.
The project involved hard of hearing
people into online and blended Microsoft
trainings and provides 2,5% growth in
the first year after being launched.
http://www.flipsnack.com/LearningReso
urcesNetwork/2016-lern-
international-award-winners.html
OUR SUCCESS
In 2014 editorial staff of PC Magazine
awarded Petralex Hearing Aid «Best
Soft 2014» prize, thus recognizing it as
the best smartphone based hearing aid
of the year.
(«Best Soft» prize — is an annual
review organized by PC Magazine to
select the most currently important
programs available for users in Russia.
«Best Soft» rating has been maintained
for over 12 years and has established
itself as software expert).
http://ru.pcmag.com/korporativnoe-
po/19184/guide/rossiiskoe-po-
2014-innovatsii-i-dostizheniia?p=2

19. Petralex PRO: an advanced
hearing aid
 SUBBAND PROCESSING
subband amplification and compression
 NOISE REDUCTION
low-delay noise suppression
 PERSONAL LOWDNESS
extended audiometry for quiet and loud
sounds

20. Hearing loss compensation &
noise reduction
Hearing loss Petralex Pro

21. Personal loudness
• Automatic control of subjective loudness
• Hearing fatigue prevention
Standard audiometry
Personal equal loudness

22. Tinnitus masking
• People with tinnitus can benefit with new
Petralex Pro
• Tinnitus elevates hearing thresholds
• Algorithm attenuates tinnitus by masking
with amplified environmental sounds.

23. Thank you for attention