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Winner of the first ORCA Labs Grant 2026: Sound Preference
“This established Think-Aloud methodology will provide novel insights into what sound people prefer, and how those preferences are formed.”
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Who we are
At ORCA Labs, we do research on life with hearing loss and apply our knowledge to improve solutions
About ORCA Labs The Scientific Institute of WSA
Hearing is not solved
There’s a need for more knowledge and understanding.
Our research plays a vital role in the link between understanding life with hearing loss and developing state-of-the-art technology that tackles these challenges.
This month In Focus
The Winning Project: Tapping into Hearing-Aid Personalisation: A Qualitative Framework for Understanding the Process of Developing Sound Preferences
The first ORCA Labs Research Grant has been awarded to Dr Bill Whitmer and Dr Janin Benecke of the Hearing Sciences, Scottish Section, University of Nottingham, UK.
Building on recent work on hearing-aid self-adjustment, Whitmer and Benecke are turning their attention to a broader question: how sound preferences form and what shapes people’s decisions when comparing different listening experiences.
The reviewers highlighted the researchers’ innovative use of the Think-Aloud Protocol to study sound preferences:
“Whitmer and Benecke will take an innovative approach to studying sound preferences by having participants ‘think aloud’ while rating different listening conditions.” Sound Preference Advisory Board
Currently presented in three countries
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Latest posters
ORCA Labs researchers are present at the most important audiology conferences in the world. Sometimes we do talks, sometimes we present posters. Visit our latest posters below.
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Research areas
Our research is organized into four research areas. Click and explore the problems we address, the questions we ask, and the answers we found.
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