2. Literature Review - Gazwilde/EQ-Software-For-Mixing-Audio GitHub Wiki

The ear is made up of three main parts; the Outer ear, the Middle ear and the Inner ear. The Pinna forms the first part of the outer ear, this is the visible part of the ear. It acts like a funnel directing sound into the Ear canal and then onto the Eardrum . The middle ear consists of the Eardrum and three small bones. Soundwaves hitting the Eardrum cause it to vibrate, the vibrations are then transferred to the three small bones. This action causes the sound waves to be amplified. The Cochlea is found in the Inner ear. The Cochlea is filled with liquid. The vibrations from the Middle ear cause the fluid in the Cochlea to move, this then reacts with thousands of tiny hairs inside the Cochlea, sending electrical pulses to the brain (Hear it 2018).

https://www.hearinglink.org/your-hearing/about-hearing/how-the-ear-works/

1. Pure Tone testing

This test is perform with the use of headphones. The person being tested is placed in a quite room or chamber. Test tones at different frequencies are played through one side of the headphones at a time. When the person being tested hears a tone they either press a button connected to the software, or raise their hand to let the operator know when they have heard a tone.

some companies offering different software for Pure Tone Testing

Hear It App https://www.hearxgroup.com/heartest/

Free Hearing http://www.freehearingtestsoftware.com

After researching the functions and price of the software and hardware, it was decided that at this stage of research the Free Hearing Test software would be used. The software allows for different frequencies to be tested. It also gives the test results in a XLS required to build the software.

Audeara Headphones

Dr James Fielding designed Audeara headphones. A kickstarter project was launched at the beginning of 2017, receiving 1504 backers, pledging a total of AU$466,305. Using an app on your phone, connected to the headphones via bluetooth, the user performs a hearing test. The results from this test creates a listening profile that adjusts the sound to each ear.

Nura Headphones

Nura headphones are also a kickstarter project. Launched May 2016 it has 7730 backers and raised $1,803,988. The headphones aim to deliver the same results as the Audeara headphones, but instead of the user performing hearing test via an app, it conducts the tests automatically.

Hear It (2018) The ear - a magnificent organ [online] [Accessed on the 15th August 2018] Available at https://www.hear-it.org/The-outer-ear:

Hearing Link (2018) How the ear works [online] [Accessed on 30 July 2018]https://www.hearinglink.org/your-hearing/about-hearing/how-the-ear-works/