Seeing a speaker's face and listening comfort for people with cochlear implants
Listening Effort and Gaze Strategies During Audiovisual Speech Perception
This project looks at whether watching a conversation partner’s face lowers listening effort and fatigue for people with cochlear implants in real-life conversations.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Minnesota NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Minneapolis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11238501 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would take part in tests that compare listening when you can see a talker’s face versus when you cannot, including challenging, noisy conversations. Researchers will measure how tiring or effortful listening feels and will track where you look on the talker’s face during live interactions using eye-tracking. The focus is on adults who use cochlear implants and on situations that match everyday social communication. The team will relate individual gaze patterns to measures of listening effort and fatigue to find which visual cues help most.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults with cochlear implants who notice listening effort or fatigue and can attend in-person lab visits for conversational tasks and eye-tracking.
Not a fit: People without hearing loss, those who do not use cochlear implants, or individuals unable to take part in in-person eye-tracking or visual tasks are unlikely to benefit directly.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better communication advice, rehabilitation strategies, or device features that reduce listening fatigue for cochlear implant users.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research shows seeing a speaker improves speech understanding, but using live conversations and linking gaze behavior to reduced listening effort is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Minneapolis, United States
- University of Minnesota — Minneapolis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fleming, Justin Tracy — University of Minnesota
- Study coordinator: Fleming, Justin Tracy
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.