RNID teams up with Sonos, a sound experience company that creates innovative home theatre systems to improve the accessibility of TV and films for deaf people and people with hearing loss.
Why it’s needed
Designing products with the needs of people with hearing loss included from the start is a key factor in inclusivity, so we were excited to work with Sonos on its upcoming Speech Enhancement feature – a brand new, AI-powered software tool that clarifies dialogue in movies and TV.
Dialogue in movies has become harder to understand, which can make the viewing experience difficult to follow. While subtitles, volume control and Bluetooth headsets can help, Sonos wanted to help solve this problem and provide a better way to listen.
What we did
Sonos approached us, wanting to work with our specialists in audio technology and assistive devices. They asked us to reach out to members of our communities, who wanted to be involved in testing out their new software feature. We did this through our research panel, a group of people with lived experience, and people with close connections to our cause, that takes part in research on a regular basis.
Together with Sonos and the research panel, we spent almost a year researching the needs of people with hearing loss through multiple in-person workshops. These helped to clarify peoples’ preferences, without overwhelming them with choice.
The outcome
This research helped Sonos approach the development in new ways. Our workshops also brought out some emotional responses from members of our research panel, including one participant, who said that using the new Speech Enhancement feature was like “being a child again and hearing all those noises that I’ve missed for years.”
As a result of our collaboration, Sonos has created a new Speech Enhancement feature that provides four levels of control, empowering viewers to create a customised sound experience, especially for those with hearing loss. Using AI, the technology consistently and accurately detects dialogue whenever it occurs, and applies just the right amount of speech extraction to make conversations stand out against sound effects and ambient noise. It will be first available on Sonos’ Arc Ultra soundbar.
