What started as a group of Portland State University (PSU) students and long-time friends considering potential technology solutions to worldwide equity issues has evolved into an innovative app geared toward helping cochlear implant users. HearBat was one of 100 global finalists chosen from over 1,000 competitors in Google's Developer Student Clubs Solution Challenge, in which coders were asked to solve for one or more of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals using technology.
Remarkably, the Portland State University student team behind HearBat was one of only four finalist groups representing the United States in the competition. The interdisciplinary team, consisting of Olivia Van (a graphic design major), Andy Nguyen (a business major), and Daniel Tran and Aaron Mai (both computer science majors), geared their projects toward the categories of Quality Education and Reduced Inequalities and designed an immersive language learning experience for those with cochlear implants. Their app, designed to create an immersive language learning experience for those with cochlear implants, earned the judges' favor with its project.
The inspiration for the app stemmed from the group's experiences at a coding competition focused on social impact apps. Recognizing the lack of robust auditory word recognition tools for cochlear implant users, they saw an opportunity to create an enjoyable yet empirically-grounded platform. "Our goal is to create a fun, addictive experience in HearBat that combines speech training techniques with game-like progression systems," explained Daniel.
Aaron shared details about the team's progress on HearBat. "We're building an app using Firebase for people with cochlear implants who struggle to distinguish between similar-sounding words," Aaron explained. "We really need to gamify language learning with things like audio repetition and accuracy tracking." Noting that most of the international student groups competing were made up exclusively of coding students, the teammates were not too surprised by their success and credit Olivia’s contributions in terms of graphics design and user interface as making a big impact on the usability of the platform. "User-centric design is so important for creating technological solutions that provide a genuinely constructive experience," Olivia observed. This contribution combined with the coding and business skills of the rest of the group was instrumental in ensuring HearBat resonates with its intended users.
HearBat's creation has highlighted the power of interdisciplinary collaboration among students from different fields of study. "Having teammates focus on complementary aspects like audiology research, speech recognition software, and gamified linguistics allows us to develop a more holistic product," Olivia said. The tight-knit foursome also benefited from a deeper history as classmates at Century High School and the common background of Vietnamese ancestry, which led to another distinctive feature of HearBat.
One upcoming goal is to offer languages other than English; Spanish is the next obvious choice. However, rather than focusing on the nation with the highest number of cochlear implant users, Germany, they have decided to turn next toward a Vietnamese version of the platform, citing the urge to address a country with far fewer technological resources. Andy comments “I believe it would be best if we tackled Vietnamese, which targets an underrepresented community since most western apps already have German.” Other improvements HearBat is undertaking are implementing speech recognition capabilities into the app to allow users to speak responses instead of selecting from multiple choice options and to increasingly gamify the app using speech recognition to check accuracy.
The bent toward serving community is a hallmark of Aaron, Andy, Daniel, and Olivia’s time at Portland State, and the students point to their appreciation of the mentorship they received at Maseeh College. First-hand insights into the challenges faced by the cochlear implant community, as well as engineering suggestions, were provided by Professor Tim Anderson, Chair of Engineering and Technology Management. A cochlear implant user himself, he was pivotal in guiding the team's user research and app storytelling. “I am so impressed with this interdisciplinary team,” notes Anderson; they brought together ”computer science, business, and art majors to develop a friendly but powerful tool for helping people with cochlear implants adapt to their new device for hearing.” Anderson’s mentorship was invaluable to the HearBat team. "Meeting with Professor Anderson helped us understand how to craft a better overall user experience," Olivia explained. "He offered invaluable perspective on things like onboarding flows and interaction models that genuinely resonate with cochlear implant recipients."
As HearBat advances through Google's multi-round competition, the students remain grounded by this experience. "I really want to start mentoring younger students myself after this experience," Aaron said, expressing his desire to guide younger STEM students toward both entrepreneurship and making technology more inclusive.Looking ahead, HearBat's success could reverberate far beyond the competition. Should the app ultimately be implemented in speech therapy and classroom settings, it may provide a transformative platform for auditory training among the cochlear implant community both locally and internationally. With the app’s status as one of the top solutions worldwide vying to create positive change, the Portland State team has already accomplished something monumental, proving that PSU students and faculty possess the skills and determination to make a global impact.