Discussion sessions I
Discussion sessions I
Thursday, June 1st 2023, afternoon
I Hardware and Acoustics
a) Sensors in hearing devices: Blessing or curse?
Session Chair: Martin McKinney (Starkey), Tania Zieschang M.D. (University of Oldenburg)
Short description: A rush for integrating a number of non-acoustic sensors into hearing devices and for implementing additional services for (mobile) health support has appeared within the last years. However, some sensors are now leaving the hearing devices because their cost/benefit ratio is not satisfactory. Will the hearing device of the future be the mHealth central data acquisition unit of the future or will it stay what it is: a device dedicated for hearing support?
Agenda
II Psychophysics & Evaluation
b) Unmet needs and special cases in hearing aid supply (market, audiology)
Session chairs: Susan Scollie (University of Western Ontario, CAN), Kirsten Wagener (Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH)
Short description: Current hearing aid development is rather geared towards “plain vanilla” hearing impairment types. Seen from a user perspective: which aspects in hearing aid supply are currently (and perhaps even not in the future) forgotten? Which important, special cases (e.g., asymmetrical losses, low-frequency loss, very mild loss, severe to profound loss…) have not adequately been dealt with in modern hearing devices? What kind of R&D is needed? New ways of testing to assess the modern, complex features of the hearing aid?
Agenda
III Algorithms & Software
c) AI and Big Data in Audiology: Mixture between expert-steered and self-steered fitting (audiology, diagnostics & fitting)
Session chairs: Niels Pontoppidan (Oticon), Anthea Bott Ph.D. (GNHearing)
Short description: With the advent of OTC devices and phone-supported hearing aid fitting optimization the role of the hearing health professional in supplying hearing devices will assume more elements of the self-steered hearing supply model. How can both models profit from each other? How can the (massive) user data from the traditional supply chain and from the new user-centred support systems be utilized, analyzed and combined to create better solutions for supplying and fitting hearing devices in the future?
Agenda