Toward AI-Aided Teleaudiology

Around 1.5 billion people worldwide experience some level of hearing loss, yet most lack easy access to hearing tests, treatments, or suitable hearing devices. This thesis explores innovative ways to improve hearing care through teleaudiology—delivering hearing services online via smartphones—and artificial intelligence (AI). These methods aim to make hearing care more accessible in the future.

The research shows that individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, who use cochlear implants, can evaluate their hearing performance at home using self-administered tests. This may reduce the need to visit a clinic. Self-administered tests can also help fine-tune the settings of a cochlear implant. Additionally, we evaluated free speech-to-text apps that convert spoken words into text. The accuracy of these apps seems sufficient to help people with moderate to severe hearing loss follow conversations more easily.