Workshop "Computational Audition" at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg

How can computers be taught to listen? This question was at the centre of the workshop "Computational Audition", which took place from 24 to 26 October at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) in Delmenhorst. It was organised by the Centre for Hearing Research at the University of Oldenburg and Hannover Medical School as well as the Collaborative Research Centre "Active Hearing". The conference was attended by 50 hearing researchers, neuroscientists and computer scientists from the USA, England, France and the Netherlands. The aim of the conference was to advance basic research into "artificial hearing". To date, no technology exists that functions like human hearing and can understand speech in noisy situations. Scientists are therefore trying to learn from the human brain how it decodes acoustic "scenes" and filters out information from different sound sources. They want to enable computers to suppress the noise components or to reliably decode spoken language commands even in the presence of noise. Findings in this area are invaluable for improving mobile audio communication and hearing aids. "We are delighted that the workshop on artificial hearing has struck a chord with numerous renowned researchers from very different fields," says Oldenburg hearing researcher PD Dr Volker Hohmann, who organised the workshop. High-calibre speakers were recruited for the conference. It offered them the opportunity for an intensive discussion of new research findings, from which all participating disciplines could benefit and which could lead to interesting new research questions. "Due to the positive response, we have agreed to repeat this meeting regularly in order to ensure a long-term exchange and to consolidate newly established contacts," explained Hohmann. The joint Centre for Hearing Research at the University of Oldenburg and Hannover Medical School is currently in the Cluster of Excellence competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with national and international partners, including the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg. With its proposal "Hearing4all", the cluster is one of the 27 finalists that were allowed to submit a full proposal. "The decision will be made in summer 2012," says Prof Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, spokesperson for the cluster. "The proposal contains various work packages that could lead to decisive progress in the field of 'artificial hearing'," explains Kollmeier. The conference is funded by the CRC "Active Hearing" and the HWK. To the conference programme