The next in the series featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, technologists and researchers about emerging technologies and what students need to know about these fields.

What do you do?

Backyard Creators is a deep-tech company that works on restoring hearing through a non-invasive bionic ear for children with profound and severe hearing loss. Such children can only hear through implants. Our goal is to enable hearing externally by a dynamic magnetic field, without invasive procedures.

Why is your work important globally?

Our work focuses on achieving micro-scale neural stimulation externally by a dynamic magnetic field. Globally, 49 million people suffer from severe hearing loss, and an estimated 100,000 children are born every year with hearing loss. But only a small percentage receive treatment due to various barriers. Beyond hearing, this scientific approach could open pathways in diagnostics and other areas, making its impact far-reaching.

What is exciting about your work?

The most exciting part is that the answers do not exist yet. Our external sound processor uses advanced speech coding algorithms to analyse incoming sounds in real-time. Instead of using current pulses, it drives a precisely controlled dynamic magnetic field that interacts with the inner ear. This field targets specific cochlear regions corresponding to frequency bands, just like natural hearing. Creating new knowledge through hands-on experimentation, rather than applying known solutions, keeps us deeply motivated and curious.

Any experiences in college that led you to become an entrepreneur?

During school and college, we constantly worked on tinkering projects, science exhibitions, and small experiments. Over time, we realised that, to pursue our ideas seriously, we needed a legal structure to obtain grants. This led to our start-up. The COVID period played a major role; with fewer exams and no classes, we had uninterrupted time to experiment, build, and discover what we truly wanted to work on.

What should students specifically know about applying AI to healthcare?

Any field demands strong expertise and foundations in fundamentals; whether Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Biology, Engineering or a combination. Students should focus on understanding the basics before choosing domains and build an understanding of the problems they are pursuing. It is also equally important to find the right teacher or mentor. We have learnt that, when you share your thinking honestly, the right people gradually find their way to you.

The writer is an avid follower of emerging technologies and their applications.