Ronny Hannemann
Team Lead ORCA Labs, Erlangen, Germany
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How do aging individuals balance walking, talking, and hearing in a noisy world?
The challenge
Communication on the move: the hidden challenges of aging
Healthy aging is a continuous process of adaptation, requiring individuals to adjust to changing cognitive, sensory, and physical demands.
Communication plays a vital role in maintaining social connections and independence, yet everyday activities—such as having a conversation while walking—become increasingly complex with age.
Successfully processing speech, monitoring surroundings, and coordinating movement simultaneously requires cognitive and sensory adjustments.
For those with hearing loss, these challenges are even greater.
Balancing walking for staying engaged
Adjusting walking behavior, attention, and communication strategies becomes essential to staying engaged in conversations while remaining mobile.
However, little research has explored how aging individuals modify both movement and conversation patterns in response to hearing-related changes.
Understanding these adaptations is key to improving assistive technologies, rehabilitation strategies, and real-world communication support.
In collaboration with Prof. Obleser’s group at the University of Lübeck, our research aims to address three key questions:
- How do aging individuals manage the complex task of walking while engaging in conversation?
- How does hearing loss influence walking behavior and communication strategies?
- Can we identify successful adaptations to hearing-related challenges by studying real-world user behavior?
Our approach
Investigating the intersection of hearing and mobility
To explore these questions, we examine healthy older adults engaged in natural turn-taking conversations while walking in two settings:
- A controlled lab-hallway environment, where external distractions are minimized.
- A dynamic outdoor setting, where background noise and environmental variability present real-world challenges.
The illustration shows the experimental setup to assess individual movement and realistic communication behavior during a joint walk.
Key insights
Multimodal approach bridging insights between diciplines
By integrating different research methods, we gain a comprehensive understanding of how individuals adapt to hearing and movement challenges.
- Speech Analysis – Examining conversational adjustments such as changes in turn-taking, speech clarity, and vocal effort.
- Gait Tracking – Observing how walking stability, pace, and coordination are affected by the cognitive demands of communication.
- EEG Brain Activity Monitoring – Measuring attentional shifts and neural responses to auditory input, providing insight into how the brain balances listening and movement.
This multimodal approach bridges insights from neuroscience, audiology, and behavioral research, offering a more complete picture of how individuals manage age-related sensory changes.
Hearing loss impacts more than communication—it reshapes how aging individuals walk and navigate their environment
Future directions
Balancing speech and movement: Insights for better support
Findings from this research will guide hearing solutions and rehabilitation strategies that enhance both communication and mobility:
- Optimizing hearing aid features to improve speech perception in movement-based interactions.
- Developing real-time assistive technologies that dynamically adjust to walking and listening conditions.
- Creating rehabilitation programs that train individuals to balance conversation and movement more effectively.
Real-world impact
Supporting aging adults in everyday communication
By understanding how hearing loss affects both conversation and mobility, this research will provide valuable insights for hearing aid developers, clinicians, and aging individuals:
- Older adults can develop personalized adaptation techniques to maintain independence and social engagement.
- Clinicians can integrate movement-aware communication strategies into hearing rehabilitation programs.
- Hearing aid manufacturers can design features that enhance speech perception while walking.
This study offers a deeper understanding of how aging individuals navigate real-world communication challenges with hearing loss, ensuring better hearing, mobility, and overall quality of life.
Ultimately, our goal is to support individuals on their healthy aging journey by developing better hearing solutions that align with their evolving needs.
Related Publications
Stay tuned: More research to come
Researchers
Researchers involved
Prof. Jonas Obleser University Lübeck
Sarah Tune (Post Doc)
Martin Orf (Post Doc)
Research area Benefits beyond hearing
Partners Universities