Ultrasonic cyborg hearing

This thesis explores the feasibility of a useable cybernetic expansion of the human auditory system into the ultrasonic range. As part of this thesis a fully functional prototype was built and tested successfully. The hardware, software and algorithm used in the process of realizing the prototype as well as their technical verification are documented here. A detailed analysis of the history and current developments in cybernetic implants, with a particular focus on do-it-yourself cyborgs are also provided. Research on the state of the art is presented for both digital signal processing techniques for pitch shifting and ultrasonic hearing devices. Several natural and technical ultrasound sources are listed as well. Additionally a personal account of the perceptive experience of wearing the prototype is discussed together with possible future implications of cybernetic implant technology as a whole. The prototype built for this thesis shows that it is possible to extend the capabilities of a cochlear implant to enable the perception of ultrasound. This allows the redefinition of the cochlear implant, from a utility mitigating a “disability” into an extendable sense broadening the human perception. The algorithm implemented to perform the pitch shifting was designed specifically to preserve the harmonic overtone structure of the ultrasonic signal after the transposition. Therefore the prototype’s real-time implementation is particularly suitable for the use as a sensory extension, in comparison to other ultrasonic hearing devices that do not have these properties. Possible other ideas for future uses of the prototype without a cochlear implant or as a tool for research are also discussed.

Author dc:creator

• Wagenbach, Maximilian

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-18514

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:depositonce.tu-berlin.de:11303/19840