Turn An Ear To Hear

Listeners in a noisy situation benefit from facing slightly away from the person they are listening to, turning one ear towards the speech, concludes a study by Cardiff University, funded by UK charity Action on Hearing Loss (RNID). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This listening tactic was found to be especially beneficial for cochlear implant users who typically struggle in noisy social settings such as restaurants. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

It was also found to be compatible with lip reading which was unaffected by a modest, 30-degree head orientation, illustrating that the benefits of lip-reading and turning an ear towards a talker can be combined. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

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Dr Jacques Grange from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology said: “Noise can be a big issue for any listener and especially for someone with a cochlear implant…” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“It’s better to have a clear signal in one ear than a mediocre signal in both.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

When tested in the laboratory, with the speech in front of the listener and interfering noise behind, the technique resulted in a 4-decibel improvement to intelligibility of speech in a noisy environment for both normal-hearing listeners and cochlear implant users. A 4-decibel improvement can be the difference between understanding nothing and perfect understanding. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Dr Ralph Holme, Head of Biomedical Research at Action on Hearing Loss said: “We are also campaigning for bars, restaurants and cafes to do more to improve their acoustics to make it easier for people with a hearing loss to engage in conversation.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

To simulate a realistic restaurant listening situation, acoustic measurements were also taken in the Mezza Luna restaurant in Cardiff and used to create a virtual acoustic simulation. In the simulation normally hearing listeners were tested at each table with three different head orientations: facing the target talker, with a 30-degree head turn to the left, or with a 30-degree head turn to the right. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The data showed that a significant head-orientation benefit still occurred with this high level of realism. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The two experiments allow for conclusions to be made about the causal effect of head turning on the understanding of speech in both a laboratory and a real-world setting. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​