Digital ear-opening – Hearing aids and other hearables often cause wearers to perceive their own voice in a distorted way, and chewing, swallowing, and even walking also generate unpleasant noise. The reason for this is the so-called occlusion effect, which occurs when headphones or hearing aids close off the auditory canal. This problem is addressed by the startup Elevear, which emerged from the Institute for Communication Systems and was successfully founded by Stefan Liebich, Johannes Fabry, Raphael Brandis, and Elfed Howells on February 4, 2021. Their Occlear® technology suppresses the occlusion effect and allows natural voice perception.
The project has already received the RWTH Innovation Award in 2019 and was accepted into the RWTH Incubation Program in January 2021 as one of twelve outstanding founding teams.
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