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Research group

Signal Processing Audio and Hearing Group

We research the processing, perception and control of complex signals.

Part of Engineering

About

We develop technological innovations related to both engineering and the human science aspects of acoustics.

Our main research areas are: 

  • active control of sound and vibration 
  • spatial and 3D audio reproduction and capture 
  • audiology, hearing impairment, psychoacoustics and communication 
  • signal processing for underwater acoustics 
  • bioacoustics 

Our work also extends beyond acoustics to: 

  • the fields of image processing 
  • biomedical signal processing 
  • human balance 

People, projects and publications

People

Dr Mark Fletcher

Senior Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Cochlear implants
  • Haptics
  • Virtual acoustics

Email: m.d.fletcher@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Paul White

Prof of Statistical Signal Processing

Research interests

  • Paul has research interests which include signal processing, underwater acoustics and bioacoustics (the way animals, especially marine mammals, use sound). He is primarily concerned with developing tools to assist in the computer-aided analysis of underwater sounds and understanding the role of those sounds in the marine environment.
  • Acoustics, in the form of sonar, is an important tool for the exploration of the marine environment. It is used by the seismic industry to locate oil and gas reserves, by the military to detect objects, by oceanographers to make measurements and by marine mammals to survive.
  • Man-made underwater acoustic systems rely upon computers to process the data coming from sensors to interpret the environment. The processing methods within the computer systems are a critical component often defining the overall success of the instrument.

Email: p.r.white@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Philip Nelson CBE FREng

Professor of Acoustics

Email: p.a.nelson@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Stefan Bleeck

Head of Department

Research interests

  • The aim of my work is to understand how we hear sound and to use this knowledge to create bio-inspired solutions to enhance speech communication.
  • I have continuously worked on various aspects of hearing research and technology and have been principal investigator on various research grants (EU, EPSRCS, etc) with a value of more than £2M. I am team leader with an internationally recognised research programme to develop devices that help normal hearing and hearing-impaired people to communicate better in noise. Methodologies include brainstem physiology, neuronal simulations, deep learing, psychophysics, pupil tracking and other physiological measurements. 

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: s.bleeck@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Stephen Daley

Chair in Industrial Active Control

Email: s.daley@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Steve Bell

Professor

Research interests

  • evoked responses: measuring electrical responses from the hearing and balance system in response to sensory stimulation;
  • evaluating the benefits of hearing aid and cochlear implant technology;
  • principle investigator on the EPSRC funded project ‘Personalized fitting and evaluation of hearing aids with EEG responses’ 

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: s.l.bell@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Professor Thomas Blumensath

Professor

Research interests

  • I develop and study advanced algorithms that can solve challenging inverse problems by efficiently exploiting complex prior information. Using techniques from mathematics, statistics and machine learning, my work concentrates primarily on problems in x-ray tomographic image reconstruction and modelling.
  • I work closely with state-of-the-art imaging facilities (µ-VIS, the National Research Facility in Lab-based XCT, the UK’s synchrotron facility at the Diamond Light Source, and ISIS neutron imaging beamline) to find practical solutions to a range of important scientific problems from plant science to manufacturing.
  • My research interests cover areas such as: Theoretical and computational methods for Signal and Image Processing (Machine Learning, Compressed Sensing, Statistical Signal and Image Processing, Quantum Computing, Inverse Problems, Optimisation, X-ray Tomographic Imaging); Advanced tomographic imaging strategies: (limited angle tomography and laminography, Spectral X-ray imaging, Stereo and extreme limited view tomography); Efficient computational methods for tomographic reconstruction, including GPU acceleration, distributed computation and advanced optimisation strategies, Constrained optimisation for ill-conditioned and underdetermined   tomographic inverse problems, Applications of X-ray tomography to the inspection of manufactured components, Multimodal tomographic imaging

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: thomas.blumensath@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Dr Victoria Watson

Principal Teaching Fellow

Research interests

  • person centered care
  • qualitative research

Email: v.watson@soton.ac.uk

Address: B13, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

My research focuses on the use of active control technologies to enhance the performance of systems in terms of their sound and vibration characteristics.
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