Airpod Pros as Assistive Technology for Hearing Loss
This study is looking at how well Apple Airpod Pro 2nd and 3rd generation earbuds work as hearing assistance for people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, especially in noisy places. Researchers will compare Airpod Pros to traditional hearing aids and two types of wireless remote microphones. They want to see which device helps you understand speech best in noise, and how these devices affect your listening effort. You might be able to join if you are an adult between 18 and 60 years old, speak fluent English, and have mild-to-moderate hearing loss but haven't used hearing aids in the past year. The study plans to enroll 24 participants. Success will be measured by how well you recognize speech, your reaction time on a memory task, and changes in your pupil size.
- Study design
- This is an interventional study that will include 24 participants. All participants will try and evaluate four different types of assistive technology.
- What's involved
- You will participate in a single 2-hour session. During this session, you will have your hearing tested, devices fitted, and then complete speech recognition and memory tasks.
- Compensation
- Not stated in the trial record.
- Follow-up
- Measurements will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session.
AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.
Use of Airpod Pros as Assistive Technology
At a glance
Conditions
Where it's being run
1 sites across 1 statesStudy leadership
- Linda Thibodeau, Ph.D. · STUDY_DIRECTOR · The University of Texas at Dallas
- Seeon Kim, Ph.D. · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Who to contact
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Do you actually qualify for this trial?
Add a private profile and we'll compare every criterion below against your situation — and tell you which ones are met, uncertain, or excluding.
Inclusion
Exclusion
What this trial measures
- Speech recognition threshold at 70.7%The measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session.
Speech recognition threshold (SRT) at 70.7% is the noise level at which a person can correctly repeat 70.7% of sentences. Determine the appropriate dB SNR to measure sentence recognition with assistive technologies. It is measured in decibels (dB). Lower values indicate better performance.
- Reponse time of secondary working memory taskThe measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session.
It refers to the amount of time it takes for a participant to react to and complete the secondary working memory task, performed alongside the primary task (speech recognition). This measurement reflects the participant's cognitive processing speed and listening effort. It is measured in seconds (s). Faster values indicate better performance.
- Pupil diameterThe measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session.
Pupil diameter reflects the motivation to exert effort through physiological mechanisms that maintain homeostasis, making it a reliable indicator of listening effort. It is measured in millimeters (mm). Larger pupil diameters typically indicates greater exerted effort.
- QuestionnaireThe measurement will be conducted immediately following the intervention within the 2-hour single session.
Participants are asked to rate how easy it was to understand the speaker with each device. This scale ranges from "Very easy", "Easy", "Ok", "Hard", to "Very hard". They are also asked to select their most preferred device.