Remote-control sound pattern recognition for auditory assessment and therapy in smart healthcare

Abstract

A remote-control method is proposed for healthcare services involving auditory assessment and therapy through video-conferencing software. Different video-conferencing software platforms have different sound responses, and the user computer also has variations in sound performance because of its hardware and software configuration. These restrictions affect the ability of video-conferencing software to deliver health services that require accurate, reliable, and repeatable sound. In this paper, a remote-control system board is developed wherein sound for auditory assessment or therapy is stored. A low-cost processor is used to remotely deliver sound by sound pattern recognition. Service providers play a sound pattern locally to remotely control the system board. The desired audio files can be delivered to the client side without suffering from sound loss in terms of frequency range and loudness. Experiments were also conducted to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the remote-control method for audio playback can be realized with a low-cost processor, such as a microcontroller unit for sound pattern recognition and that it accurately delivers audio files in terms of frequency and amplitude.