A year ago I bought myself a Nokia BH-505 Bluetooth headset. I usually use it to listen to my music stored on my mobile phone. One day during subway commuting I’ve noticed that after stopping the music the headset amplified the ambient sound for a couple of seconds. Of course this was a bug but it gave me an idea: if the headset can record sound, amplify it and reproduce it at a higher volume than why it can’t be used as a hearing aid?
In order to elaborate this idea I must start with some preliminary data:
- Nokia BH-505 Bluetooth headset – $60
- Regular hearing aid – $500 to $6,000
Now how could a $60 Bluetooth headset be converted in a simple hearing aid?
DIY – mobile phone app
The most simple approach would be to write an app that runs on the mobile phone that acts like an equalizer: it amplifies frequencies of sounds of interest (e.g. voice) and attenuates frequencies of unwanted sounds (e.g. background noise). The sound would be streamed from the microphone (via Bluetooth), processed by the equalizer on the phone and then streamed back to the headphones.
Of course this would work only for a couple of hour because the Bluetooth usage drains the battery rather quickly.
Firmware upgrade
The producer of the headset (or a skillful hacker) may implement the equalizer right into the firmware of the Bluetooth headset. This would not require a mobile phone and the Bluetooth communication so the battery would last longer.
I doubt that someone will hack into one of these Bluetooth headset firmwares too soon so start praying for some product management enlightening.
Conclusion
Of course that a Bluetooth headset would not offer the same quality as a professional hearing aid but at least it would offer your grandpa a more modern look. On another hand one Bluetooth headset like these may prove particularly useful for filtering out your baby’s cries for attention and, why not, for picking door locks.
