Hearing Birdsong
Working alongside the Dyson School of Engineering at Imperial College and the Design Age Institute, we’ve developed a working prototype of a hearing-loss screen designed to humanise diagnosis for children.
The experience immerses children in a richly detailed forest soundscape, unfolding across five distinctive chapters. Rolling thunderstorms, wind-rustled trees, and flowing streams create a sound environment that is dynamic, engaging, and calming.
Explore a forest full of exciting sounds.
Listen out for birds and their songs.
Learn how sound helps us understand the world.
Within this journey, children are invited to listen out for familiar bird calls. These sounds are digitally adapted to the specific test frequencies used in traditional audiometry and, through a matrix of simple feedback decisions, a child’s hearing can be evaluated. Clear, jargon-free guidance then signposts supervisors to appropriate next steps.
Hearing Birdsong installations were exhibited across the UK to consult the public on the design.
Practitioners, researchers, engineers, designers, and people with hearing loss all contributed directly to the development of the system.
Project partners
Design Age Institute
UCL
Helix Centre
Dyson School of Engineering
Imperial College London
The Design Museum
Wren
4 - 8 kHz Very High
The wren has a small body but a very big voice. Its song is bright, busy and full of energy — like a happy burst of sound. Even though the bird is tiny, its call can be surprisingly loud and high, ringing out clearly above the forest.
Because the wren sings using very high sounds, listening for it helps us understand how well children hear the quiet, higher notes in the world around them.
Song Thrush
3 - 4 kHz High
The song thrush is a confident singer with a bright, ringing voice. When it sings, it likes to repeat the same tune two or three times, as if it’s practising or making sure you’ve heard it properly.
The song thrush knows lots of different songs and sings them clearly and strongly, filling the forest with sound.
Blackbird
1 - 2 kHz Medium
The blackbird sings slow, gentle songs that flow smoothly through the trees. Its voice is soft and warm, like a calm tune played on a flute.
Listening to the blackbird helps us notice smooth, rounded sounds that drift and settle in the forest.
Cuckoo
350 - 750 Hz Medium Low
Cuckoos use their voices in different ways. Sometimes the call is loud and easy to spot, and other times it is softer and quieter.
When cuckoos are looking for a safe place to lay their eggs, their call can sound slower and lower, like a careful, searching sound.
Collared Dove
250 - 350 Hz Low
The collared dove makes a soft, gentle coo sound that comes from low, deep notes. You might hear it go coo-oo, followed by a few louder coos.
Sometimes the call goes low–high–low, like coo-OO-oo, and other times it is very quiet and close by.