The 24th National Invention Exhibition-One Belt One Road & BRICS Skills Development and Technology Innovation Competition concluded in Foshan, China

• Hong Kong scientists applied 5G beamforming technology to develop revolutionary hearing aids, effectively reducing noise by 90%.
• Won the "Most Popular Invention Star" award

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 28 December 2020 - On November 21st, the 3-day 24th National Exhibition of Inventions -- Belt & Road and the BRICS Skills Development and Technology Innovation Competition concluded in Foshan, China ¹.A group of inventions and innovation projects and leading talents who made outstanding contributions to technology and industrial progress and to enhance social welfare were awarded. Hong Kong scientist Mr. Cheung Yat Yiu (Danny) used 5G beamforming technology to develop a revolutionary hearing aid that effectively reduces noise by 90% and won the "Most Popular Invention Star" award.

In the past decade or so, the number of hearing-impaired people in Hong Kong has been increasing. According to the report "Persons with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases in Hong Kong"², the majority of people with hearing difficulties are elderly people over 70 years old. Therefore, the increase in the number of hearing- impaired people is related to the increase in the number of elderly people with an aging population. According to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), one in three elderly persons aged 65 or above has hearing loss³. Weak hearing can lead to falling and emotional instability. The risk of accidents is also high. The problem should not be ignored.

Dr. Joannie Yu, audiologist, calls for public's attention on elderly hearing problem and to take positive steps. She suggested that we should consult audiological professional advice when hearing loss symptoms arises. However, to date, only less than 17% people with hearing loss will wear hearing aids. Even they choose to wear them, the function of the past hearing aids is not perfect. In addition to amplifying the voice, it will also amplify the noise. The sound the user hears may be noisy, or it may make the user suffer from noise nuisance and it is difficult to wear it for a long time.

It is for this reason that Hong Kong scientist Mr. Cheung Yat Yiu (Danny) established the EasyHear Hearing Centre⁴. EasyHear is the world's first company successfully that applied 5G beamforming technology to hearing aids. The technology has significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio which overcome the annoying loud noise problem that plagues traditional hearing aids. This breakthrough has brought noise cancellation to a new era with superb 90% noise reduction. Users can hear high clarity speech even in noisy environment. Hearing impaired people can rebuild communication and listen clearly with this ground-breaking patented technology.

The 24th National Exhibition of Inventions -- Belt & Road and BRICS Skills Development & Technology Innovation Competition

Themed on "Invention and Innovation, Mutual Benefit and Win-win", the 24th National Exhibition of Inventions -- Belt & Road and BRICS Skills Development & Technology Innovation Competition was jointly organized by China Association of Inventions, the BRICS Business Council, Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, and Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology. The total exhibition area was more than 40,000 square meters. The Exhibition lasted for three days and attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors from 800 enterprises, schools and research institutions from China with about 2,195 inventions were exhibited. The National Exhibition of Inventions had contributed to developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Global Science and Technology Innovation Center.

Source of information

1. http://www.cainet.org.cn/cms/Article/view?article_id=256 http://www.cainet.org.cn/cms/view/2332.html

2. The report "Persons with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases in Hong Kong" http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/fd.jsp?file=B71501FB2015XXXXB0100.pdf&product_id=FA100059&lang=3. 2./

3. Deafness and hearing loss Fact sheet, WHO, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/

4. https://easyhear.com.hk/