Summary:
Eargym has launched reportedly the largest investigation into the effectiveness of hearing training, aiming to recruit at least 10,000 participants to explore its impact on auditory processing and preventative hearing care.
Key Takeaways:
- Large-Scale Study: The project aims to attract over 10,000 participants to better understand how hearing training affects skills like speech comprehension and sound localization.
- Proven Benefits: Initial data shows that auditory training can significantly improve speech perception, with 83% of Eargym users reporting better hearing skills after seven weeks of app use.
- Accessible Training: Eargym’s free app offers interactive games designed to improve auditory processing, making hearing training accessible and engaging for users.
Eargym has launched what it says is the world’s largest investigation into the effectiveness of hearing training to expand researchers’ understanding of the impact of auditory training as a form of preventative hearing care.
The research project aims to attract a minimum of 10,000 participants to better understand how hearing training impacts auditory processing skills like speech comprehension and the ability to locate where sounds are coming from.
Further Reading: Most Adult Britons Struggle to Hear in Noisy Environments
The Benefits of Auditory Training
Eargym data already shows that auditory training can improve key speech perception skills equivalent to understanding up to 20% more words in noisy environments. In preliminary studies, 83% of Eargym users reported an improvement in their hearing skills after using the Eargym app for auditory training for just seven weeks.
Now, researchers are interested in the impact of hearing training on users who start training with different hearing ability levels, as well as training adherence in groups with different attitudes toward smartphone technology. Their aim is to find new ways to deliver and improve auditory training at scale and for a wider range of hearing skills; and to measure factors which influence training engagement.
Free Access to the Eargym App
To facilitate this research, Eargym is making its hearing training app available for users to download and use for free until the end of September 2024. The Eargym app features a series of accessible, interactive games and activities which simulate realistic and challenging listening scenarios to help improve users’ ability to derive meaning from the sounds they hear.
Users who sign up will be supporting Eargym’s mission to tackle the social and cognitive impacts of hearing loss. The Eargym app is available to download for free on the iOS and Android app stores now.
Co-founder Insights
“We’re really excited to be launching this ambitious research project and contribute to vital hearing health research, says Eargym Co-founder Andy Shanks. “Contrary to popular belief, hearing loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging. We can take steps to improve and protect our hearing throughout our lives, yet preventative measures like hearing training have traditionally been under-researched.”
Interactive and Engaging Training Games
The games on the Eargym app include a “busy barista” exercise, where users must discern speech over a cafe’s bustling background noise; and a “sound seeking” exercise, where users make their way through forests, jungles, and oceans to locate the sources of different sounds. Each game is designed to be immersive and to help users practice specific auditory processing skills regularly.
Eargym Founders’ Journey
Eargym was set up by former NHS CEO Amanda Philpott and DJ Andy Shanks in 2020 after they were both diagnosed with hearing loss. Philpott has moderate age-related hearing loss, while Shanks has “notch” or noise-induced hearing loss due to DJ-ing. Both found hearing loss isolating and it impacted their ability to socialize and communicate. They created Eargym to empower others to better understand their hearing health and take proactive steps to protect it.
Eargym plans to publish the findings of its research in early 2025.
Featured image: Eargym co-founders Amanda Philpott and Andy Shanks. Photo: Eargym
