Innovative Hearing Aid Research – Ecological Conditions and Outcome Measures

n today’s aging European population, hearing impairment is an increasing concern for public health and social participation, affecting one in three older adults. The H2020 EC Marie-Curie ITN project “Innovative Hearing Aid Research – Ecological Conditions and Outcome Measures” (HEAR-ECO) addresses this concern by developing and combining new tools and outcome measures for realistic communication, and translating these tools into innovative developments and evaluations of new technology for those with hearing loss. HEAR-ECO trains a new team of researchers working at the nexus of technology, psychology, physiology and audiology.

The PhD students work together to creatively combine three established measures of listening effort, and to develop innovative conditions for testing hearing aids. Moreover, this research contributes to the development of new tests, analyses techniques, and technologies that will create more realistic listening conditions.