I-Corps: A virtual reality software for listening with hearing aids in complex environments

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过改进的虚拟现实(VR)试戴过程来增加助听器的采用率和预期的好处。尽管许多人可能会从使用助听器中受益，但大多数潜在患者选择不购买任何设备。不使用助听器的不同原因包括负面耻辱、成本和很少或根本没有好处。目前安装助听器的过程是间接的，需要多次前往诊所。用户通常会佩戴助听器，被送去使用几周，然后要求返回诊所进行调整。因此，正确调整设备的过程是耗时的，而且很难知道最终的调整是否对特定患者是最好的。所提出的虚拟现实(VR)软件可以与训练有素的听力专家一起实现关于在受控临床环境中安装助听器的直接、实时反馈。患者可能更多地参与助听器调谐过程，使他们能够直接感受到佩戴助听器的好处。随着助听器被越来越多的人采用，更好的社会参与度可能会降低认知衰退和抑郁症的发生率，这是已知的听力损失的共病。这个i-Corps项目基于虚拟现实(VR)软件的开发，以改进听力学诊所内助听器的安装过程。所提出的技术使用了一种算法，该算法能够在真实声场中实现带助听器和不带助听器的收听的高精度虚拟声学渲染。现有的虚拟声学算法在听力损失最常见的高频下存在不准确性。这些不准确使得开发用于复杂、逼真声场的VR助听器演示变得困难。该算法在所有频率下都能很好地工作，因此可以准确地应用于配戴助听器的虚拟听力绘制。为该项目开发的VR软件既模拟了不戴助听器的听者的自然听力，也模拟了戴助听器时听者的辅助听力。因此，该软件寻求允许听者直接将他们当前的听力与佩戴助听器的体验进行比较。这项拟议的技术使用了目前市场上与目前助听器试戴过程和听力学诊所使用的软件相兼容的设备。建议的软件还可以扩展到与任何能够低延迟流媒体的助听器一起工作，从而扩展其在不同设备上的兼容性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to increase the adoption and perceived benefit of hearing aids using an improved virtual reality (VR) fitting process. Although many people may benefit from using hearing aids, the majority of potential patients choose not to purchase any devices. The different reasons suggested for not using hearing aids include negative stigma, cost, and little to no perceived benefit. The current process of fitting hearing aids is indirect, requiring multiple visits to the clinic. Users typically are fit with hearing aids, sent out to use them for a few weeks, and then asked return to the clinic for adjustments. As such, the process is time consuming to tune a device properly, and it is hard to know if the final tuning is what is best for a specific patient. The proposed virtual reality (VR) software may enable direct, real-time feedback about hearing aid fitting in a controlled clinical environment with a trained audiologist. Patients may be more involved in the hearing aid tuning process, enabling them to directly perceive the benefit of wearing hearing aids. With increased hearing aid adoption, better social engagement may potentially lower the rates of cognitive decline and depression, known comorbidities with hearing loss.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a virtual reality (VR) software to improve the fitting process for hearing aids within audiology clinics. The proposed technology uses an algorithm that enables a highly accurate virtual acoustic rendering of listening with and without hearing aids in realistic sound fields. Existing virtual acoustic algorithms have inaccuracies at higher frequencies, where hearing loss is most common. These inaccuracies make developing VR demonstrations of hearing aids difficult for complex, realistic sound fields. The proposed algorithm is designed to work well at all frequencies, so it may be accurately applied to virtual rendering of listening with hearing aids. The VR software developed for this project simulates both a listener’s natural hearing, without hearing aids, and a listener’s aided hearing, while wearing hearing aids. As such, this software seeks to allow a listener to directly compare their current hearing with the experience of wearing a hearing aid. The proposed technology uses devices currently on the market that are compatible with current hearing aid fitting processes and software used in audiology clinics. The proposed software also may be scaled to work with any hearing aid capable of low-latency streaming, expanding its compatibility across different devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.