What is your primary work area within Eriksholm Research Centre?
I work as a scientist, primarily investigating daily hearing aid use in real life. Modern hearing aids contain a variety of pre-calculated settings, some automatic and some for the user to choose between. I am exploring the clinical benefits in hearing aid features to find out to which extend the pre-programming matches the users’ daily needs. Moreover, I investigate in XR experience for hearing aid users.
What originally triggered your interest in the hearing care field?
During my PhD I worked with urban soundscape and sound perception regardless of hearing ability. I became interested in the fact that the capacity of hearing the sound and processing it is a fundamental chain, without which the modern urban sound design cannot benefit all and achieve its best purpose.
What brought you to Eriksholm?
After finalizing my PhD I saw a postdoc position at Eriksholm where applying AI to personalized hearing care treatment was the focus. To me this was an opportunity to use my knowledge and specialize further within hearing healthcare in an industry setting in a world-leading company.
What motivates you in your job?
I really enjoy working with state-of-the-art hearing technology every day. I also have the opportunity to interact with lots of hearing aid users and talk to them about their experiences with the hearing aids. I enjoy this direct interaction and it gives me insight into the struggles and challenges many users of hearing aids face every day.
What do you hope to achieve in the long run?
I hope to gain a better understanding of the difficulties users of hearing aids face every day and, more importantly, the underlying mechanisms, causing them to find certain situations more challenging than other. My job is all about expanding human knowledge beyond what we already know. Gaining a better understanding can potentially benefit the auditory perception in people using hearing aids and beyond.
What do you do in your spare time when you’re not working at Eriksholm?
I do a lot of sports, badminton, swimming, and volleyball. Besides that, I enjoy reading books, preferably fantasy, and also watching a good movie.
What is the most exciting scientific breakthrough or invention in your time?
The multi-sensory interaction, for example audiovisual interaction. We do use all our senses every day, not just one at a time, so we also need to take all of them into consideration and find out how they interact, for instance when we are exposed to difficult listening situations. This approach helps us view hearing in a more holistic manner
What do you hope will happen in future science?
I hope we will see a tendency for science to go beyond understanding level and be applied to improve everyday life of people. For hearing devices, I hope they will be seen as an enhancement of auditory sensation as opposed to devices to compensate for hearing disabilities.