HEARING: Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy
HEARING: Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy supports multidisciplinary teams developing brain-driven hearing technology to improve speech clarity for people with hearing loss.
This grant was recently updated
HEARING is no longer accepting new submissions; ARPA-H is now reviewing submitted proposals. Awards will be announced after negotiations are complete.
Funder: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
Due Dates: No longer accepting submissions (proposals under review)
Summary: HEARING supports minimally invasive, brain-driven hearing technology that works with the auditory cortex to improve speech clarity in noisy environments.
Description
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) runs HEARING to develop a minimally invasive hearing system that works directly with the brain’s auditory cortex. The program treats hearing loss as a neurological condition rather than solely an ear problem, addressing limitations of hearing aids and implants that respond to external sound but often struggle in noisy, real-world settings.
HEARING advances intracortical devices, dynamic sound modulation, and auditory read and write algorithms. Together, these technologies are intended to adjust sound to the listener’s focus, reduce background noise in real time, and fill in missing sound information. The goal is clearer, more effortless hearing for people with mild to severe hearing loss, with potential benefits for older adults, veterans, and workers in high-noise occupations.
