At UCF’s new Communication Technologies Research Center, David Eddins is working on a “smart” hearing aid that predicts the user’s intent and changes the way it processes sound in response. Accelerometers receive data about head movements and provide indicators of what the user is doing and their hearing needs, and the device adjusts itself accordingly.

The team also developed a 3D-printed whistle that produces a sound frequency proportional to the air flow a patient is generating. A smartphone app measures the pitch of the sound and the patient’s breathing capacity, providing the same information as much more expensive devices now on the market. Eddins’ has also developed a device and treatment method to help people with abnormal sensitivity to sound and another targeting age-related auditory deficits. “Rather than just put a hearing aid on, what we would like to do is change the way the brain reacts and responds and processes.”

• David Eddins