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The performance of hearing aids for music is often poor, yet music is a vital part of being human, bringing people together and improving health and wellbeing in many ways.
Towards improved communication of music via hearing aids and consumer devices exploiting wearable sensors
Start date 1st May 2023
End date 31st October 2023
PI Dr Duncan Williams (Salford University)
Co-Is Dr Alinka Greasley (University of Leeds)
Dr Scott Bannister (University of Leeds)
Dr William Whitmer (Nottingham University)
Prof Trevor Cox (University of Salford)
Rory Stocks (University of Salford)
Dr Richard Hughes (University of Salford)
Everyone experiences hearing loss as they age, but only 40% of people who could benefit from hearing aids use them. The performance of hearing aids for music is often poor, as speech dominates the development and fitting of this assistive technology. Yet, music is a vital part of being human, bringing people together and improving health and wellbeing in many ways.
A key challenge is that hearing loss and responses to music are heterogeneous, so the processing of the music must adapt for both the individual and the track they are auditioning. Consequently, our innovation is to use feedback from wearable sensors to improve and individualise the reproduction of the music. Such sensors can efficiently map an individual's emotional states over time, giving insight into how they are reacting to the music.
Monitoring listener experience and adjusting processing on-the-fly first requires tests to understand what useful data can be obtained from sensors, which correlate with an individual's response to the music. At the end of the project, we will have experimental proof that sensor data can beneficially adjust music processing. From this pilot study, we will apply for a substantial research project that will explore a wide range of ecological contexts: live gig, singing in a choir, or listening to pre-recorded music.
We will examine both hearing aids and headphones. Putting this technology into consumer devices will reduce the need for dedicated AT hardware, and increase take-up among end users by tapping into the rapid growth of listening over headphones.