Alphabet launches Wolverine project to develop voice extraction system from crowd noise
A research structure for Google-owned Alphabet, X lab, is working on phenomenal hearing aids.
X lab simultaneously promotes a variety of, sometimes fantastic projects like “moon shots” or aircraft video monitoring of fish. The project, codenamed Wolverine, aims to create a system that makes voices stand out from the crowd.
Apparently, the device will be quite portable – in the standard size of fully wireless headphones. Since 2018, several prototypes of these earbuds have already been created. Several microphones are installed in their case at once – and so far these are all available technical details.
To create a novelty, specialists from Starkey Hearing Technologies and Eargo joined the development team. The team is known to have succeeded in isolating individual sounds using a “sound splitting mechanism” that adapts to the environment of the listener. The closest analogue of the Wolverine system can be considered the Whisper artificial intelligence hearing aids, which were declassified last year.