BuzzSpeed

As a solution to combat spatial hearing loss, we propose the creation of a spatially-active auditory search game which will train the player to locate target sound sources based on auditory cues. The game will present the player in an enclosed 2D area with invisible sound sources. These sound sources will emit auditory cues which through spatially-dependent, real time interaural differences (i.e. computationally determined differences in playback loudness, timing, and phase between one’s ears dependent on the relative location between the listener and the sound) represent their location relative to the player’s position. Following these auditory cues, the player will navigate their character using joysticks toward the invisible sound source in the 2D space. The goal of the game is for the player to follow the cues to navigate to the sound source in the shortest path possible. This game, as a virtual training application, would represent one of the first attempts at directly addressing the spatial deficit component of special hearing loss through manipulation of neuroplasticity of the human auditory system, especially for younger patients. Furthermore, player metrics and their corresponding game performance will be anonymously stored for analysis by the neural-auditory experts of the Barbour Lab at Washington University in St. Louis.