Simultaneous talk for cochlear implant users

This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under its Follow on Fund for Impact and Engagement scheme which supports innovative and creative engagements with new audiences and user communities.

Simultaneous or overlapping talk is known to be a particular problem for individuals who have a hearing loss, even when using a conventional hearing aid or cochlear implant. Until recently, even in one-to-one settings many users would need optimum conditions in order to hold a satisfactory conversation, and professionals have steered clear of advising cochlear implant users about how to deal with situations of overlapping talk on the basis that such a situation would be just too hard to handle. However, recent improvements in the signal processing strategies used in cochlear implants mean that it is now more realistic for users to attempt to engage in conversations where overlapping talk occurs. We therefore aim to engage with a group of adult users of cochlear implants in order to develop useful training materials for handling overlapping talk in conversation.

Simultaneous speech with cochlear implants (data example)

Further details

Selected works

  • B. Wells, A. V. Beeston, E. Bradley, G. J. Brown, H. Crook, and E. Kurtić, “Talking in Time: the development of a self-administered Conversation Analysis based training programme for cochlear implant users,” Cochlear Implants International, vol. 20, iss. 5, pp. 255-265, 2019. [doi:10.1080/14670100.2019.1625185]
    [BibTeX] [link] [paper]
    @article{Wells:2019cii,
    author = {Wells, Bill and Beeston, Amy V and Bradley, Erica and Brown, Guy J and Crook, Harriet and Kurti\'{c}, Emina},
    title = {{Talking in Time: the development of a self-administered Conversation Analysis based training programme for cochlear implant users}},
    journal = {{Cochlear Implants International}},
    volume = {20},
    number = {5},
    pages = {255-265},
    year = {2019},
    doi = {10.1080/14670100.2019.1625185},
    link = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14670100.2019.1625185},
    paper = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14670100.2019.1625185},
    month = jun
    }

  • A. V. Beeston, B. Wells, H. Crook, E. Bradley, G. J. Brown, and E. Kurtić, “Talking in Time,” in T4i, technology for independence conference, Sheffield, UK. Software demonstration. 28 Nov, 2016.
    [BibTeX]
    @inproceedings{Beeston:2016t4i,
    author = {Beeston, Amy V and Wells, Bill and Crook, Harriet and Bradley, Erica and Brown, Guy J and Kurti\'{c}, Emina},
    title = {{Talking in Time}},
    booktitle = {T4I, Technology for Independence Conference},
    year = {2016},
    address = {Sheffield, UK. Software demonstration. 28 Nov},
    month = Nov
    }

  • H. Crook, E. Bradley, B. Wells, G. J. Brown, A. V. Beeston, and E. Kurtić, “Rehabilitative software to improve participation in multi-speaker talk for cochlear implant users.,” in 11th Annual Conference of the British Academy of Audiology, Bournemouth, UK. Abstract. 20-21 Nov, 2014.
    [BibTeX]
    @inproceedings{Crook:2014baa,
    author = {Crook, Harriet and Bradley, Erica and Wells, Bill and Brown, Guy J and Beeston, Amy V and Kurti\'{c}, Emina},
    title = {Rehabilitative software to improve participation in multi-speaker talk for cochlear implant users.},
    booktitle = {{11th Annual Conference of the British Academy of Audiology}},
    year = {2014},
    address = {Bournemouth, UK. Abstract. 20-21 Nov},
    month = nov,
    }

  • H. Crook, E. Bradley, G. J. Brown, B. Wells, A. V. Beeston, and E. Kurtić, “A framework for multidisciplinary project work with cochlear implant users: Involving CI users in developing rehabilitation tools to improve performance in multi-speaker conversation,” in 51st Inner Ear Biology Workshop (IEB 2014), Sheffield, UK. Poster. 31 Aug-2 Sep, 2014.
    [BibTeX] [poster]
    @inproceedings{Crook:2014ieb,
    author = {Crook, Harriet and Bradley, Erica and Brown, Guy J and Wells, Bill and Beeston, Amy V and Kurti\'{c}, Emina},
    title = {{A framework for multidisciplinary project work with cochlear implant users: Involving CI users in developing rehabilitation tools to improve performance in multi-speaker conversation}},
    booktitle = {{51st Inner Ear Biology Workshop (IEB 2014)}},
    year = {2014},
    address = {Sheffield, UK. Poster. 31 Aug-2 Sep},
    poster = {http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/A.Beeston/dl/Poster_IEB2014.pdf},
    month = aug,
    }

  • A. V. Beeston, E. Kurtić, E. Bradley, H. Crook, G. J. Brown, and B. Wells, “A multi-modal training approach to improve cochlear implant users’ ability to handle simultaneous talk,” in Conference on Multimodality in language research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. Oral presentation. 26 Jun, 2014.
    [BibTeX] [slides]
    @inproceedings{Beeston:2014mm,
    author = {Beeston, Amy V and Kurti\'{c}, Emina and Bradley, Erica and Crook, Harriet and Brown, Guy J and Wells, Bill},
    title = {A multi-modal training approach to improve cochlear implant users' ability to handle simultaneous talk},
    booktitle = {{Conference on Multimodality in language research, University of Leeds}},
    year = {2014},
    address = {Leeds, UK. Oral presentation. 26 Jun},
    slides = {http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/A.Beeston/dl/slides/BeestonKurtic_Multimodality_Jun2014.pdf},
    month = jun
    }

  • B. Wells, G. J. Brown, H. Crook, A. V. Beeston, E. Kurtić, and E. Bradley, “Meeting the challenge of simultaneous talk for cochlear implant users,” in 15th International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference (ICPLA), Stockholm, Sweden. Poster. 11-13 Jun, 2014.
    [BibTeX] [link]
    @inproceedings{Wells:2014ci,
    author = {Wells, Bill and Brown, Guy J and Crook, Harriet and Beeston, Amy V and Kurti\'{c}, Emina and Bradley, Erica},
    title = {{Meeting the challenge of simultaneous talk for cochlear implant users}},
    booktitle = {{15th International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference (ICPLA)}},
    year = {2014},
    address = {Stockholm, Sweden. Poster. 11-13 Jun},
    link = {http://jowiconsulting.se/onewebmedia/ICPLA_Program.pdf#page=116},
    month = jun,
    }

  • A. V. Beeston, G. J. Brown, E. Kurtić, B. Wells, E. Bradley, and H. Crook, “Conversational skill development strategies for cochlear implant users,” in UK Speech Conference, Edinburgh, UK. Poster. 9-10 Jun, 2014.
    [BibTeX] [poster]
    @inproceedings{Beeston:2014uk,
    author = {Beeston, Amy V and Brown, Guy J and Kurti\'{c}, Emina and Wells, Bill and Bradley, Erica and Crook, Harriet},
    title = {{Conversational skill development strategies for cochlear implant users}},
    booktitle = {{UK Speech Conference}},
    year = {2014},
    address = {Edinburgh, UK. Poster. 9-10 Jun},
    poster = {http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/A.Beeston/dl/Poster_ukspeech2014_overlap.pdf},
    month = jun
    }

Simultaneous speech with cochlear implants (turn transitions)

AHRC overlap project, expert listening focus group panel

Amy Beeston