Virtual reality games could help deaf children learn to use cochlear implants

Southampton researchers are helping see if virtual reality (VR) games can prepare young patients with cochlear implants for noisy environments.

Young patients at University Hospital Southampton with severe to profound deafness can be referred to the University of Southampton (UoS) Auditory Implant Service to have cochlear implants fitted.

Cochlear implants help these children to hear. However, they can find it hard to work out where sounds are coming from, particularly in noisy places such as a café.

The BEARS study aims to see if playing games on a VR headset can teach them how to locate sounds. It will also see if it can improve their ability to separate speech from background noise.

Brain training

Learning to locate sounds and identify speech is essential for many day-to-day tasks. These include having a conversation in a busy room, or safely crossing the road.

Cochlear implants have a tiny microphone close to the ear that picks up sounds. These are then coded by a processor and turned into digital signals.

The signals are transmitted to the implant inside the ear, which in turn stimulates nerve fibres in the cochlea – part of the inner ear. From here, the hearing nerve carries the signals to the brain, where they are recognised as sounds.

Professor Helen Cullington, an audiologist at the UoS Auditory Implant Service involved in the study, explains why children need training to use them.

“Sound from a cochlear implant isn’t the same as most people hear,” she says. “Patients have to work on their listening skills to adapt and make sense of what they are hearing after implants are fitted.”

“Having hearing in two ears helps your brain to find where a sound is coming from. For children who have two cochlear implants, locating and separating sound can be a real challenge and take time to master.”

Immersed in the VR experience

Over 160 children are taking part at 11 sites across the UK. They range in age from eight to 16.

They are randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group use the BEARS software package for three months. The second group continue on their usual clinical care pathway.

The team provides the first group with VR headsets and specially designed software. This is intended to immerse them in a 3D sound and vision experience.

The games include a target practice challenge, a music making activity and a game set in a busy, noisy pizza restaurant. The games all aim to help with recognising the direction of sound and understanding speech in noisy environments.

They have all been co-designed with young people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. They worked with scientists, researchers, speech and language therapists, surgeons, audio engineers and audiological societies.

The study is led by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge. They are working with UoS and three other universities – Imperial, Nottingham and UCL (who run the clinical trial). It is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Anyone interested in taking part in the BEARS study can find out more on this NIHR Be Part of Research webpage.