Targeted rehabilitation with audiovisual training

This innovative project aims to develop a training programme that makes it easier for people with hearing loss to understand speech, especially in situations with background noise. Audiologist Rolf Mjønes is the project manager. Rolf has previously developed The Eikholt test, a test of audiovisual speech understanding. It is this test that has revealed new possibilities. Together with The Hearing Society and funds from The Dam Foundationthe project is now underway.

Why this project is important

One result of the Eikholt test is the patient's audiovisual gain. In short, this means that what and how much we perceive in communication with others is a result of the interaction between sight and hearing. The Eikholt test shows that some people benefit greatly from lipreading in such situations. Rolf Mjønes explains it this way:

Our ability to understand speech depends not only on what we hear, but also on what we see. Facial expressions, lip movements and body language provide important additional information that helps the brain interpret what is being said, especially in noisy environmentsr.

Quote Rolf Mjønes

Research shows that this audiovisual interaction can be crucial to our ability to function normally in noisy situations. For people with normal vision and normal hearing, speech perception in noise is improved by approximately 50% using lipreading. For people with hearing loss, this gain is even more important (Kleven, 2024).

Despite this knowledge, there are currently no good training programmes that can be used to train audiovisual speech understanding. Mjønes wants to do something about that.

Individually tailored training programme

An audiovisual training programme could provide more targeted rehabilitation. The aim of the project is therefore to develop an app and a website that provide access to short exercises with a customised level of difficulty. Through the training programme, individuals will be able to follow their own progress and achieve better speech understanding.

The training programme aims to combine lip reading (visual cues) and hearing to train the brain to use both senses more effectively. Experience and data from the Eikholt test are used in the development.  

The training programme that will be developed is expected to provide significant value in several areas:

• For individuals with hearing loss: A tangible self-training tool that can improve everyday communication skills, increase self-confidence, improve social participation and reduce isolation.
• For professionals in hearing rehabilitation: A resource for targeted training and specific exercises in working with users, as well as a tool for measuring and documenting the effect of rehabilitation.
• At system level: An important supplement to traditional hearing rehabilitation by offering an active training component that the user can control, which strengthens the user's role in their own rehabilitation and can streamline the work of professionals.

Less listening effort and more energy in social situations

We know both through research (Tun et.al 2009) and the experience of course participants who each year visit The AV clinicthat social situations and noisy environments in particular require a lot of energy for people with hearing loss. Many therefore try to avoid such activities. Now the aim is for a training programme to provide new coping strategies:

Hopefully, more people will find that through audiovisual training they will be able to experience less listening effort and more energy in social situations.

Quote Rolf Mjønes

Project progress and development

The project is now in a phase where participants are being recruited. Participants will be given the opportunity to answer questions about their needs and wishes for audiovisual integration training. Later, they will have access to a test version that will provide a concrete basis for providing feedback on the user experience.

The project will be finalised by the end of 2026 and the project report will be ready during the winter of 2027.

Do you have any questions?

Please contact project manager Rolf Mjønes by email: rolf.mjones@eikholt.no

Read more

Want to read about other projects? Read more about projects organised by Eikholt here.

Interested in the Eikholt test? The om Eikholt test

Do you have questions about combined visual and hearing impairment?

Then just get in touch. You don't need a referral.

Contact us - Eikholt