Hearing Laboratory

As part of the Hearing Valley project, the Hearing Laboratory has been established in the facilities of the University of Eastern Finland, located on the ground floor of the Canthia building, at Yliopistonranta 1 C, 70200 Kuopio. The laboratory was completed in August 2025 and was taken into use in October 2025.

The hearing laboratory consists of three rooms. Upon entering, visitors arrive in a waiting area, which provides access to both the research room and the monitoring room. The research room is equipped with video surveillance and a microphone system, allowing continuous monitoring and two-way communication between the participant and the research team in the monitoring room.

The research room is equipped with state-of-the-art technology designed to support advanced research in hearing and audiology. The room includes 36 loudspeakers and 2 subwoofers that enable the creation of realistic and controlled sound environments that simulate real-world listening situations. All loudspeaker systems are remotely controlled, enabling precise and flexible management of sound environments during experiments. In the research room there are also an audiometer for measuring hearing thresholds across different frequencies and intensities, an EEG device for recording brain activity and studying how the brain responds to auditory stimuli, an eye tracking device for monitoring visual attention and measuring listening effort and cognitive load and head and torso simulator, which replicates the acoustic properties of the human body and is used to study spatial hearing and evaluate hearing technologies. The Hearing Lab is now equipped with virtual reality headsets, which makes it possible to utilize immersive VR environments as part of research.

Audiometer

EEG

Bittium NeurOne is a high‑performance EEG/ERP system designed for clinical research that requires precise. It captures clean, high‑accuracy signals across many channels and supports synchronized group recordings.

Its Tesla amplifier provides an wide dynamic range (±430 mV) and supports both AC and DC recording. High sampling rates up to 80,000 Hz per channel and a wide bandwidth (DC–3500 Hz) enable detection of fast neural responses and subtle clinical changes.The system offers precise timing for neuromodulation, including real‑time digital triggering that aligns TMS pulses with specific EEG phases, supporting advanced protocols such as closed‑loop stimulation.

Eye tracker

The Smart Eye Pro is a state‑of‑the‑art, remote multi‑camera eye‑tracking system designed for high‑precision measurement of gaze behavior, eye movements, and head position in complex and naturalistic research environments. As a non‑intrusive system, it enables accurate tracking without requiring participants to wear any equipment, allowing for unconstrained and ecologically valid behavior during experiments.

The system supports 3D head and eye tracking across a large field of view, with flexible camera placement. It delivers detailed gaze data, including fixations, saccades, blinks, pupil diameter, and head orientation, with high spatial accuracy under a wide range of lighting conditions. In a research context, Smart Eye Pro can be used to study visual attention, audiovisual integration, listening behavior, and cognitive load.

Head and torso simulator

Loud speakers

The speaker system consists of 37 speakers and two subwoofers, primarily designed to create realistic sound environments. Of the speakers located in the research room, 32 are Genelec 8331A three-way coaxial speakers, four are Genelec 8330A two-way coaxial speakers, and two are Genelec 7370A subwoofers. One two-way speaker is placed in the control room for monitoring purposes.

The frequency response variation of the coaxial three-way and two-way speakers is a maximum of 2 dB in the range of 100–20,000 Hz. For the subwoofers, which are intended for reproducing low frequencies, the variation is a maximum of 3 dB in the range of 20–100 Hz. Having two separate subwoofers allows for better optimization of the frequency response at the listening position compared to using just one.

The speakers’ consistent directivity and wide frequency response enable accurate sound reproduction. Additionally, they feature built-in room correction filters that help reduce the impact of the room acoustics at the listening position. The speaker settings can also be controlled remotely.

Otoscope

The Sibbo PUF digital otoscope enables detailed imaging of the ear canal and eardrum via a digital display, allowing findings to be documented and shared when needed. The laboratory also uses a traditional otoscope, providing a quick and reliable method for assessing ear structures and overall ear health during basic clinical examinations. Together, these tools ensure both modern digital imaging capabilities and traditional, immediate otoscopic evaluation.