First wireless earbuds that clear up calls using deep learning

As meetings shifted online during the COVID-19 lockdown, many people found that chattering roommates, garbage trucks and other loud sounds disrupted important conversations. This experience inspired three University of Washington researchers, who were roommates during the pandemic, to develop better earbuds. To enhance the speaker's voice and reduce background noise, "ClearBuds" use a novel microphone system and one of the first machine-learning systems to operate in real time and run on a smartphone. The researchers presented this project June 30 at the ACM International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services. "ClearBuds differentiate themselves from other wireless earbuds in two key ways," said co-lead author Maruchi Kim, a doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.