Project title: Listen and Learn

Description – Vision and purpose:

The project has a strong vision of raising awareness of hearing and promoting understanding of the crucial importance of the sense of hearing for well-being and learning. The project will create contemporary and age-appropriate technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) applications (apps) to spread the project’s vision. The overall purpose is to develop “serious gaming” apps for understanding the sense of hearing, including how hearing loss is prevented, detected and treated.

In Denmark, 300,000 people are being treated with hearing technology, but it is estimated that 800,000 have challenges related to hearing problems and need treatment. It is widely recognized that the sense of hearing is a crucial sense for all learning, and it is estimated that 90% of all learning occurs by overhearing, i.e., that one hears talk from one’s surroundings and learns from it, even if it is not a direct request. In these years, headsets/air pods are widely used by young people and often with loud music for a long time. This can affect hearing in the long term. Hearing loss is often associated with stigma and there is a great need to investigate whether new technology can be used to break down prejudices and get more people with hearing loss in relevant hearing treatment. The project uncovers and investigates core areas such as general knowledge dissemination about hearing and the importance of taking care of one’s hearing as well as neural reorganization as a consequence of hearing loss. The project “Listen and Learn” will develop relevant and contemporary technology to spread knowledge about the importance of hearing for learning and how to take care of your hearing as well as to understand the neurology behind hearing loss. Young people are relevant to investigate in relation to the use of “serious gaming apps”, as it is expected that they will be critical consumers with extensive experience from the gaming universe. The expected outcome of the project is that young people will experience greater motivation to take care of their hearing and be aware of signs of hearing loss. Results from the project will contribute to a much-needed paradigm shift by using contemporary and relevant knowledge from audiology to media technology.

Method and material The project will involve the young people themselves and all apps will be developed in a co-creative design between audiologists, media specialists, representatives from the hearing industry and young people. The project is aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 25. The working group must together develop knowledge covering these audiological areas: The project must uncover and co-create apps with the following content: • The structure and construction of the ear • Restoration of hearing with hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone-anchored hearing aids. The VR app is tested on trainees and evaluated with behavioral data and questionnaires that are distributed before and after testing the app. A minimum of 100 young people are recruited from training classes at Ålholm school Valby. Contact has been established with the school that would like to participate.

Duration:

Start: 1 November 2023
End: 30 November 2024
Funding: 170.000 DKK