ADVANCEMENTS WHICH NEED TO BE MADE

All d/Deaf individuals are different. There are four levels of hearing loss; mild, moderate, severe and profound.

We are working with a Deaf driver who has profound, sensorineural hearing loss and utilises Cochlear implants.

Some Deaf drivers wear implants. Cochlear implants work by turning sound into electrical signals and sending them to part of the inner ear called the cochlea. From here, the signals travel to the brain and are heard as sound.

BAHAs (Bone Anchored Hearing Aids) work by transmitting sounds through the skull bone to the inner ear.

Key advancements which need to be made are:

• Introduce a reliable cochlear implant interface system: Most processor units allow for auxiliary connection whether by wired auxiliary input or Bluetooth

• Develop a helmet which allows a CI (cochlear implant) and BAHA users to wear their implants whilst racing: Due to helmet fit/ design being a major issue for Caleb he chooses to race without his implants, in silence

• Two way communication: Overcome the lack of two way communication between the driver and their team. A communication device needs to be present in the car which doesn’t distract the user, requires minimal hand movement, translates speech-to-text, allows simple responses through buttons/sequences which can be memorised

• Unable to hear engine: Caleb is unable to hear engine gear changes so there is a requirement for something visual

• Sensory experience for the driver: A Deaf driver receives less than half the sensory experience a hearing driver receives when racing. We will look at whether a haptic system would be able to replicate this experience on a simulator