Science and Engineering Festival 2026
Saturday, 14 March 2026
We were back for the fourth year in a row to raise awareness about hearing and cochlear implants. A team of 13 of us ran two exhibits across the day.
Exhibit 1: The world of hearing and cochlear implants
Our key messages were:
Young children
We wanted to raise awareness of hearing interventions such as hearing aids and cochlear implants. Our aim was to change mindsets and reduce stigma associated with hearing inventions from an early age.
Teenagers
We looked to raise awareness of safe listening. We encouraged visitors to limit unsafe noise exposure through personal head and ear phones when gaming or listening to music.
Set safe listening levels on your devices!
Adults
We raised awareness of the importance of regular hearing tests and it’s importance for brain health.
Exhibit 2: Fancy a free hearing check?
Members of the public had the chance to try out the free online RNID hearing check. This hearing check takes just 3 minutes and can indicate if you may need to book a full hearing test. 67 adults tried the hearing check this year!
Thank you to ALL_EARS@UoS members and staff from the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service (USAIS) for running the exhibit alongside us.
Over 50 children played the ‘How loud is too loud game’ to learn about how loud different sounds are and what can be damaging for our ears.
“Helping with the USAIS/AllEars stand and sharing the wonders of hearing and cochlear implants with the public was a real privilege —there’s nothing quite like watching curiosity spark and seeing people realise how transformative this technology can be. So many children and adults we spoke to had never heard of cochlear implants; spreading awareness is vital to ensure that people living with profound hearing loss encounter empathy and understanding from everyone they meet.”
Zoe Foot, Audiologist at USAIS