Isolating a single target voice in a noisy environment is a challenging problem, especially forpeople with some degree of hearing loss. This project employs a novel solution that, for thefirst time, utilizes a compact microphone array, works in real-time and in real-life workingconditions with low computational requirements to separate a single voice from a mixture ofvoices and other unwanted sounds. This will improve the intelligibility of speech for peoplewho are hard of hearing with consequent functional and quality of life benefits. Audiofrequency induction-loop systems are the most-widely used assistive technology due to theirearly standardization and simplicity. This project will develop a prototype of an audioprocessing system that can be used immediately with existing induction-loops without theirmodification and will be the first of a series of products for this market.

In the UK, more than 50% of people over 60 suffer from hearing loss, but only 20% of them actually use hearing aids. Part of this poor take-up is due to issues with current hearing aids, including poor sound quality and poor performance in noisy and complex environments. But one feature of hearing aids that does help people is a "directional microphone", made-up from a combination of digital signal processing and two (at least) separate actual microphones. These can reject noises from the back or the side of the user. They help the user but come with severe problems. They add extra cost, weight, and power requirements. They have to be a certain distance apart, severely constricting the design of the hearing aid as a whole. And, with just two microphones accuracy is quite limited: they can tell whether a sound source is in front or behind, but struggle to detect sounds from below or above, such as echoes in a large room. Despite remarkable advances in sound analysis in hearing aids, the actual microphone itself has remained essentially unchanged for decades. Here, we aim to solve the problems of current directional technology by instead using a new type of miniature directional microphone, inspired by how some insects tackle the problem of locating sounds. This new device retains its directionality while keeping the miniature dimensions similar to an insect ear. The research project will take the new insect-inspired microphone design and evaluate it as a component for hearing aids. From this initial evaluation, there will be an iterative process of new, improved, designs being simulated, fabricated, lab tested, and then evaluated. The end result will be microphones that can significantly solve the problems faced in hearing aid design. The primary objective is to create a hearing aid system that can reduce or control unwanted noises, focusing the hearing aid on only the sound arriving from in front of the user. This includes reducing noises not only from behind, but above, below and distant, so for example reducing the problems caused by echoes from floors and ceilings. The research will also look at problems caused by the distance from which a sound emanates, for example how to separate a sound from a loud source far away, like a train or plane, from a quiet sound from nearby, like a human voice. Finally, the new microphones will require new mounting methods in hearing aid devices. The project will investigate using 3D printing techniques to achieve this. This allows the research to consider how to optimise the hearing aid housing so that it works best acoustically in conjunction with the new microphone, and how it might be possible to extend that to produce hearing aids that are personalised for both the user's ear and their user's sense of hearing.

Noise exposure is the main cause of preventable hearing loss worldwide. Noise exposure occurs in the workplace, such as in noisy factories, and recreationally, through the use of personal music players and attendance at nightclubs and live music events. Hearing loss is usually diagnosed using pure tone audiometry, which measures the sensitivity of the ear to quiet sounds by determining the levels of tones that can just be heard at several test frequencies. Until recently, it had been assumed that hearing loss results mainly from damage to the sensory hair cells in the cochlea, the part of the ear that converts acoustic vibrations into electrical impulses in the auditory nerve. However, recent results from animal studies suggest that moderate noise exposure can cause substantial damage to the auditory nerve, even when the hair cells are unaffected. Crucially, the results suggest that such damage does not affect sensitivity to quiet sounds, and hence is not detectable by pure tone audiometry. Hearing loss that is not detectable by conventional audiometry is sometimes called "hidden" hearing loss. Auditory nerve damage degrades the information that is carried by the nerve from the ear to the brain. Some studies suggest that people with a history of noise exposure, but with normal hearing sensitivity as measured by pure tone audiometry, have problems with sound discrimination, including understanding speech in noisy environments. However, to date no direct link has been made between the physiological results and the perceptual deficits. It is also possible that damage to the auditory nerve leads to tinnitus (perception of sound in the absence of external sound: "ringing in the ear") and hyperacusis (diminished tolerance of moderate-to-high level sounds). Hidden hearing loss is potentially a huge problem. Substantial numbers of people, probably millions in the UK alone, are routinely exposed to occupational and/or recreational noise levels similar to, or greater than, those used in the animal studies. A large UK study found that one in seven adults aged 17-30 reported "great difficulty" hearing speech in noisy backgrounds, while only one in fifty had impaired sensitivity as measured by pure tone audiometry. Hidden loss leads to a reduction in quality of life, and is likely to be predictive of more severe hearing loss in old age. Hence, hidden hearing loss is a major public health issue, which demands a comprehensive investigation. Our programme is far-reaching and ambitious, involving three internationally renowned institutions across the UK and US, and a wide range of scientific methodologies. These include physiological and perceptual measures on both animals and humans. Our approach is to use overlapping methodologies across the animal and human studies so that we can understand the perceptual deficits experienced by humans in terms of the underlying physiological mechanisms. We will estimate the prevalence of hidden loss in young adults, and the impact of hidden loss on everyday tasks such as speech and music perception. We will also determine how hidden loss is related to tinnitus and hyperacusis. Finally, we will use our results to develop a sensitive diagnostic test that can be used to detect hidden loss, hence allowing the detection of hearing loss that is undetected by current clinical procedures. Our research is expected to lead to a number of benefits. A diagnostic test for hidden loss in the clinic, and for monitoring the hearing of workers, will allow identification of at-risk individuals, and provision of personalised healthcare advice, regarding, for example, ways to reduce noise exposure. Our research could also result in a reduction in legal noise exposure limits. These measures will help prevent hidden loss, improve patient outcomes, and reduce usage of healthcare resources. Longer-term, there may be the possibility of reversing auditory nerve damage by replacing lost nerve fibres using stem cells.

One in six people in the UK have a hearing impairment, and this number is certain to increase as the population ages. Yet only 40% of people who could benefit from hearing aids have them, and most people who have the devices don't use them often enough. A major reason for this low uptake and use, is the perception that hearing aids perform poorly. Perhaps the most serious problem is hearing speech in noise. Even the best hearing aids struggle in such situations. This might be in the home, where the boiling kettle forces conversations with friends to stop, or maybe in a railway station, where noise makes it impossible to hear announcements. If such difficulties force the hearing impaired to withdraw from social situations, this increases the risk of loneliness and depression. Moreover, recent research suggests hearing loss is a risk factor for dementia. Consequently, improving how hearing devices deal with speech in noise has the potential to improve many aspects of health and well-being for an aging population. Making the devices more effective should increase the uptake and use of hearing aids. Our approach is inspired by the latest science in speech recognition and synthesis. These are very active and fast moving areas of research, especially now with the development of voice interfaces like Alexa. But most of this research overlooks users who have a hearing impairment. There are innovative approaches being developed in speech technology and machine learning, which could be the basis for revolutionising hearing devices. But to get such radical advances needs more researchers to consider hearing impairments. To do this, we will run a series of signal processing competitions ("challenges"), which will deal with increasingly difficult scenarios of hearing speech in noise. Using such competitions is a proven technique for accelerating research, especially in the fields of speech technology and machine learning. We will develop simulation tools, models and databases needed to run the challenges. These will also lower barriers that currently prevent speech researchers from considering hearing impairment. Data would include the results of listening tests that characterise how real people perceive speech in noise, along with a comprehensive characterisation of each test subject's hearing ability, because hearing aid processing needs to be personalised. We will develop simulators to create different listening scenarios. Models to predict how the hearing impaired perceive speech in noise are also needed. Such data and tools will form a test-bed to allow other researchers to develop their own algorithms for hearing aid processing in different listening scenarios. We will also challenge researchers to improve our models of perception. The scientific legacy of the project will be improved algorithms for hearing aid processing; a test-bed that readily allows further development of algorithms, and more speech researchers considering the hearing abilities of the whole population.

As a mode of artistic communication, music is translation by essence. It 'transmutates' aesthetics sensibilities (Jakobson), transcends and translates cultures, enabling interactions across communities. Yet the phenomenon of translation in music is complex. Does a famous song like Guantanamera, sung and translated in a wide range of languages, strongly evoke Cuba, or just exoticise it in the imagination of the listeners? Can Frank Sinatra's 'If you go away' be considered a translation of Jacques Brel's original song? Music from all countries and cultures can be listened to easily, but can it be understood? While the largest awards and music talent shows, largely driven by the US and UK who still hold more than 40% of the music market value, are still dominated by English, music featuring foreign languages is promoted through a range of sites (e.g. Music Alliance Pact), genres (opera, world music, film music) and platforms (radio, internet, digital juke-boxes, cinema, television, particularly music television channels, live performances). Yet the interconnections of translation and music have not been widely explored and verbal language, often part of musical texts, remains a barrier to social cohesion as words are frequently left untranslated or are poorly suited to a multimodal context. This network brings together an interdisciplinary network of academics, music and translation professionals, and industry providers to foster new developments in the mediation of musical texts and engage in a debate on the complexities and the challenges of music mediation in the 21st century. Exploring the interpersonal, intercultural, intralinguistic and interlinguistic bridges on which music and translation intersect, it examines how words linked to music are currently translated. It will also map out current practices to identify how to improve the provision of such translation to make music more widely accessible, and multicultural forms of expression both more visible and more valued. In particular, contemporary translation and accessibility models provided for opera will be examined with the aim of considering them in other musical contexts. Opera houses, under criticism for being elitist and therefore under pressure to provide access to a wide public, are successful pioneers in the provision of intralinguistic and interlinguistic translation. They are also successful in adapting past works into representations that are meaningful to present audiences. Besides, opera and its contemporary new forms are offered in translation in several formats from film to radio broadcast or live performance and actively engage with new technologies in order to connect with audiences. Translation strategies and technologies pioneered in opera, still the leader in successful translation provision, can be useful models for other musical forms and genres in film, television and multimedia. This network will chart the most important developments to be considered so that the art that 'hears cultures' (Erlman) can also translate them. A range of events to promote the development of the translation of musical texts will take place, fostering interaction between translators working in the field of music, translation and accessibility managers and different music providers. Partners with expertise in translating and making music accessible to contemporary audiences are keen to develop new technologies, undertake research in the mediation of music and exchange ideas across different sectors of the music industry. National accessibility organisations are also offering expertise and cooperation, involving end users to take part in applied research on accessibility and music. When surtitles were introduced in opera, audiences unanimously claimed how much they enhanced their enjoyment of music. The ultimate role of this international network is to make similar enhancements possible across all musical audiences and performances.