This year’s annual meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery was held in Ulm under the congress motto “Fascination Head and Neck Surgery.”
The program was diverse and was realized through a broad range of topics in the form of round table discussions, free lectures, satellite symposia, seminars, and “Visual Abstracts.” A novel program item was the audiovisual art video – KLANGLICHT sound of light, which was presented to the congress participants in the Donauhalle. There was plenty of space for the numerous guests and state-of-the-art technology for optimal acoustics.
Jenny Blum, an audiologist at the University Medical Center Göttingen and initiator of the audiovisual art video, gave visitors an overview of the electrical cochlear implants (eCI) currently in use and their possibilities. Drawing from her many years of experience and patient support, she is able to convey the topic of “hearing loss” very effectively, also touching on the development of a novel, optogenetic cochlear implant (oCI) that responds to finely dosed light stimuli. This cause is the focus of Göttingen scientists from the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience at the University Medical Center Göttingen, the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies, the Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, the Collaborative Research Center 1690, and the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research. “Hearing with light” is intended to enable an improved and thus more natural hearing impression.
What does it sound like when someone hears again for the first time after years of profound hearing loss or deafness? How does it feel when new technologies make the world of sound clearer and more differentiated than ever before? Visitors were able to experience the answer to these questions firsthand through the artistic implementation of the audiovisual art video.
