Objective: To obtain and evaluate detailed descriptions of potential value propositions as seen by adults undergoing hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids. Design: Semi-structured interviews with patients and audiologists, a literature search, and the inclusion of domain knowledge from experts and scientists were used to derive value propositions. A two-alternative forced-choice paradigm and probabilistic choice models were used to investigate hearing aid users’ preferences for the value propositions through an online platform. Study sample: Twelve hearing aid users (mean age 70, range 59–70) and eleven clinicians were interviewed. A total of 173 experienced hearing aid users evaluated the value propositions. Results: Twenty-nine value propositions as described by patients, clinicians, and hearing care experts where identified, from which twenty-one value propositions were evaluated. Results of the pair-wise evaluation method show that the value propositions judged to be the most important for the hearing aid users were: “13. To solve the hearing problem you have”, “09. Thorough diagnosis of the hearing”, and “16. The hearing aid solution is adapted to individual needs”, which are related to finding the correct hearing solution and to be considered in the process. The value propositions judged to be least important were: “04 Next of kin and others involved in the process”, “26. To be in the same room as the practitioner”, and “29. The practitioner’s human characteristics”, related to the involvement of others in the process and the proximity and personal manner of the practitioners.

Collaborative robots (cobots) and AI technologies are increasingly adopted in industrial settings to enhance productivity and efficiency. While cobots equipped with AI capabilities can enable more collaborative work between people and machines, they also face worker acceptance challenges. Understanding future workers’ perceptions, attitudes, and experiences with cobots and conversational AIs can inform robot designers and developers to design systems that promote collaboration, trust, and acceptance. In this study, we gathered quantitative and qualitative data from 37 participants enrolled in a vocational training program for industrial factory workers, who interacted with an AI-empowered, voice-enabled cobot during a simulated smart-factory assembly task and visited an art exhibition featuring industrial robots and cobots. While these participants are not currently employed in factories, they are considered proxy users —individuals with relevant domain knowledge and training who represent future factory workers. The art exhibition functioned as a design probe to illicit discussion and prompt critical reflection about automation and the role of artificial emotions in HRI. The smart-factory task offered participants a concrete example of how AI-empowered virtual assistants might be combined with cobots on the factory floor. In contrast with some of the HRI literature, participants expressed a strong preference for robots without emotional displays and social behaviors, challenging the view that anthropomorphism and human-like emotions promote robot acceptance. Based on our study, we propose design recommendations for developing AI-empowered, voice-enabled cobots based on five themes generated from the qualitative data.

Modern personal stereo systems have the ability to store thousands of music files in small, relatively low-cost, compact devices. The popularity and widespread presence of the MP3 player cannot go unnoticed in contemporary society. Given a sufficient noise level and listening duration, consumers are at risk of developing a noise-induced hearing loss. A study into the effects of personal stereo use will be carried out with the intention of investigating common noise exposure levels in realistic settings, user listening habits and the hearing status in a group of listeners. Noise exposure levels are to be obtained by using the manikin technique described in the ISO 11904-2 standard. The questionnaire to be presented to interested participants is designed to report personal stereo listening habits and to screen subjects for the hearing status evaluation. The hearing status of selected subjects will be evaluated through the use of conventional and possibly extended high-frequency audiometry, transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions and distortion product otoacoustic emission fine structures.

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Temporary changes in the hearing of human subjects were monitored with distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) after control sound exposures in a laboratory. The objectives of the experiment were to investigate whether the +5~dB penalty for impulsiveness used in international standards and legislation correlates to a higher risk of hearing damage. Subjects were exposed to two types of binaural recordings consisting of a continuous broad-band noise-exposure normalized to L_EX,8h = 80~dB and the interaction of the previous stimulus with a noise of impulsive character normalized to L_EX,8h = 75 + 5~dB penalty = 80~dB. The results show that the effects on DPOAE levels from the two stimuli could be compared in terms of their total acoustic energy.