Science and Engineering Laboratory
Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
Location status: Recruiting
Recruiting
NCT Number: NCT07533071
Effects of Delay in Hearing Assistive Technology
Wireless assistive listening systems can dramatically improve intelligibility in noisy environments, but they are cumbersome to use. Digital consumer devices, such as smartphones, could be more accessible and user-friendly, but they suffer from transmission delays that could be disturbing to listeners. Delay has been studied extensively for in-ear devices such as hearing aids, but not for remote microphone systems. This study aims to characterize the tolerable delay for wireless remote microphones both for both the user's own speech and for external sounds. This will provide valuable information for engineers designing next-generation assistive listening systems.
Recruiting
Interested in participating?
Request InfoKey information
Conditions
Age range
18 year and older
Sex eligibility
All sexes
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Not applicable
Primary location
Who can participate
Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes
Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.
Inclusion criteria
- Comfortable conversing in English
Exclusion criteria
- Speech or hearing disorder
Treatment and study plan
Audio delay
OtherAudio will be captured by several microphones, processed to add an artificial delay, and then played back through headphones. The sound levels and delays for each microphone will be varied.
Primary outcomes
-
Subjective disturbance
Time frame: Approximately 1 minute intervals
Participants will rate their level of annoyance on a numerical scale from 1 to 7, where 1 indicates no annoyance (the sound seems normal) and 7 is intolerable (it is difficult to communicate). Lower is better.
Study contacts
Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.
Sponsors and collaborators
Lead sponsor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Other
Collaborators
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Registry information
Important dates
- Study start
- 2026
- Primary completion
- 2028
- Study completion
- 2028
- First posted
- Apr 16, 2026
- Registry last updated
- Jul 9, 2026
OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.
View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.