The EHS group focus on developing haptic devices to support people with hearing loss

The EHS Group are involved in a range of research projects, exploring whether vibration can be used to enhance speech, music perception, and spatial hearing for people with hearing loss (including hearing aid and cochlear implant users). This includes both work exploring the limits of the human tactile and auditory systems, work with clinical populations, and the development of new haptic technologies to assist listening.

The group is also involved in projects exploring a new low-cost bone-conduction hearing device to aid those in low-resource settings and in work developing a new low-cost virtual-acoustics system that has a small-footprint for realistic audiological assessment.

Current academic partners for the group include Oticon and Cirrus Logic, and academic partners include the University of Cambridge and the University of Rochester.

MTID members:

Dr. Mark Fletcher (Group leader), Prof. Carl Verschuur (Clinical & speech specialist), Dr. Simant Prakoonwit (AI specialist), Dr. Ihor Sobianin (Electonics & manufacturing specialist)

Other members:

Prof. Edmund Lalor (Uni. Rochester, USA), Prof. Matt Dye (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA), Dr. Aaron Nidiffer (Uni. Rochester, USA), Dr. Tobias Goehring (Uni. Cambridge), Dr. Alan Sanderson (Brighton & Sussex Medical School, UK), Prof. Mood Bhutta (Brighton & Sussex Medical School, UK), Dr. Felix Langfeldt (Institute of Sound & Vibration Research, UK)

Biomedical Energy Harvesting Group

Focusing on harvesting energy from the body to power biomedical devices.

MTID members:

Dr. Ihor Sobianin (Group leader), Dr. Mark Fletcher (Wearable devices specialist), Prof. Carl Verschuur (Implantable devices specialist)

Auditory Implants Research Group

Focusing on improving outcomes for users of auditory implants, such as cochlear implants.

MTID members:

Prof. Carl Verschuur (Group leader), Dr. Mark Fletcher (Wearable devices specialist)

Other members:

Prof. Tracy Newman (Institute for Life Sciences, UK), Dr. Mary Grasmeder (University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service, UK)