Tickle Tuner - Haptic Smartphone Cover for Cochlear Implant Users’ Musical Training

Abstract

Cochlear implants (CIs) allow individuals that can no longer benefit from hearing aids to understand speech with remarkable efficiency. On the other hand, they perform poorly in music perception. Previous research suggest that music experience can be enhanced with the use of other senses such as touch. We present Tickle Tuner, a haptic feedback device suitable for musical training of CI users. The prototype is composed of two high-quality haptic actuators and an external Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) hosted in a 3D printed enclosure coupled with a smartphone. We describe the design and implementation of the prototype and the analysis of its characteristics. We introduce a test bench for the design of different mappings between sound and vibrations which we assessed with a Melodic Contour Identification (MCI) task. Results from a group of fifteen normal hearing participants using CIs simulation showed significantly higher performance (increase of 26% more correct answers) with haptic feedback than without.