This study proposes a novel wearable device that augments the auditory awareness of hearing impaired people to help them identify the speaker during group conversations. A number of hearing impaired people are able to understand speech by using auditory-oral methods such as lip-reading, however they always need to watch the speaker closely. The proposed device estimates the direction of the sound source and indicates the estimated direction in real time with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), thus aiding hearing impaired people during group conversations. The device has 4 unidirectional microphones and estimates the sound source direction by comparing the signal amplitudes in each microphone. Hearing assistance devices are required to be small and wearable in order to assist anytime in daily life. The proposed device is small, wearable, and can easily be used in various situations.

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The present study examined intra-individual variations in the reading process when children who are hearing-impaired read 2 stories with diflerent interest levels. The analysis was carried out based on the children's eye movements while reading silently. Participants in the study were 10 elementary school children who are congenitaily hearing-impaired. The 2 kinds of reading rnaterials were rnatched for difliculty. Reading time, fixations, regressions, and reading span were evaluated in order to analyze the relationship between rate of recall and interest. The children had fewer fixations and regressions when reading the more interesting text, and the length of reading span increased. Furthermore, the children demonstrated higher comprehension scores on the more interesting material. Therefore, degree of interest in the tcxt influences the reading process of children who are hearing-impaired.