Talk:Hatsune Miku/@comment-82.131.147.195-20151101162351/@comment-82.131.155.95-20151122220552

The remote control pad on Miku's detached sleeve adjusts the amplification and tone of the cochlear processor to diverse environments. The development of singing quality in the v1/2/3/4 generations of Vocaloids are related to the technical development stages of cochlear in-head-ear implants with 8-16-32/64 electrodes. Essentially the vocaloids are now able to hear themselves more faithfully, even when singing, thus affording better self-control.

It was once considered entering the cochlear market with a DSP based vocaloidish device design that could allow deafs listen to music and even performing music enjoyably. (Today, listening to music with pleasure is possible with other manufacturer's cochlear implants, but ability to sing well and make music is still very sketchy. They were aiming for something that could fix Beethoven, had he lived 200 years later and let him compose "Ode to Joy, Episode 2".)

The gist was to record the deaf person's own voice or the voice of a close relative and make a vocaloid-like database out of it. If the deaf person was listening to a song, the vocal was to be stripped out and analyzed, then recreated in the "cochaloid" and re-mixed into music. With the familiar voice sounding, the lyrics would be easier to understand even with the limited number of stimulation points cochlear implants provide to the deaf. (Best device has 32/64 electrode now, but the biological human ear has ~2000 micro hair giving nerve stimulation.)

Turns out, recording, constructing and fine-tuning vocaloidish databases is too long and costly a process for series production. Understanding the lyrics also isn't that important, as european studies have shown (about 2 dozen mutually un-intelligible major languages there, but people dance happily to english or even romanian "Dragons Yeah Drinks Tea" despite not getting a word of it...) Thirdly, CPU/DSP power requirements were too high for wearability even in pocket form. Thus the "mikuchlear" implant went the way of the dodo, but the uniform details remain.

The reason why this history doesn't get publicity is also found in the power of deaf-lobby. They are wealthy, politically influential and regularly accuse cochlear implants of destroying their unique handwaving "culture". They refuse to acknowledge deafness as a disability and spend a lot of money on PR to demand that hand-signalling permeate society. The price of cochlear implants is very high, because part suppliers are afraid of doing business with the australian and austrian cochlear makers for risk of backlash. (Yet, in most countries social security pays the implant for one ear, because its still cheaper than paying disability benefits for life.)

It would be so nice if Miku v4 admitted to being deaf, on stage in 2016, the 50th anniversary of first c. implant. Nowadays anyone can out as an LGBT or HIV positive and people will still love him or her. 82.131.155.95 22:05, November 22, 2015 (UTC)