
New Brain-Computer Interface Will Replace Hearing Aids - Parbeyjr
https://edgylabs.com/2017/02/06/brain-computer-interface-hearing-aids/
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geophile
I have a concern not mentioned in the article. I have had tinnitus for 30
years. I have not heard silence in that long. I hear a constant, high-pitched
squeal, mostly on my right side. Between that, and diminished hearing on the
same side (all due to the same events), I do very poorly hearing what people
are saying in noisy environments, often cannot hear things quieter than the
squeal, and cannot determine the direction a sound is coming from with any
accuracy. (Also, due to the surgery, I can't use ear buds on one side, they
just fall out. And if I put my head under water, I get so dizzy that I can't
stand up or even sit up straight.)

Every year that I get my ears checked out, I ask my doc if there is any
progress on tinnitus. And every year the answer is no, there isn't. It is a
very complex and poorly understood problem. My understanding is that
researchers have determined that the neural activity associated with tinnitus
is distributed through many parts of the brain.

So I hear "brain-computer interface", especially relating to hearing, and I
get very concerned about unintended consequences, because the circuitry is so
poorly understood. While some of the benefits described in this article would
be important for me, the possibility of triggering something even worse than
my tinnitus would prevent me from being an early adopter.

