HEARING
Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy
The Big Question
What if your brain could hear what your ears cannot?
The Problem
- Over 70 million Americans live with hearing loss, driving more than $200 billion per year in medical costs, lost wages, and reduced productivity.
- Age-related hearing loss is the second most common health problem in older adults, and even today’s best hearing aids and implants often fail in noisy, real-world settings.
- Current devices react only to external sound, not to what the listener wants to focus on, making speech hard to follow in restaurants, parties, and workplaces.
- Hearing loss is usually treated as an ear problem, rather than as a neurological condition in the auditory cortex—the brain region that separates speech from noise and reconstructs what we hear.
The Solution
The HEARING (Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy) program will advance three technical areas: intracortical device(s), dynamic sound modulation, and auditory read & write algorithms.
Together, these components are intended to:
- Adjust sound based on what the listener wants to hear, rather than just what is loudest.
- Reduce background noise in real time in complex, real-world environments.
- Fill in missing sound information so that speech becomes clearer and listening becomes more effortless.
Only ARPA-H can...
- Reimagine hearing loss as a neurological condition and build the first-ever, minimally invasive, brain-driven hearing system that works in partnership with the auditory cortex.
- Create platform technologies that could reduce social isolation, depression, and cognitive decline associated with hearing loss—especially for older adults, veterans, and workers in high-noise occupations.
Solicitation
What ARPA-H needs to solve this problem
ARPA-H encourages collaborations that integrate expertise across neuroscience, otology, biomedical engineering, microelectronics, machine learning, neuromodulation, clinical audiology, and regulatory science.
Notice ID: ARPA-H-SOL-26-154
ARPA-H invites interested parties to review the solicitation, which is posted and maintained on SAM.gov. The solicitation outlines the opportunity and its requirements, key dates and deadlines, submission documents and templates, evaluation criteria for submissions, and information on how to apply.
Key Dates:
- Solution Summary Due: June 29, 2026 at 2:00PM ET
A summary is required to submit a full proposal. - Full Proposal Due: August 14, 2026 at 2:00PM ET
After submission of a solution summary, proposers will either be encouraged or discouraged from submission of a full proposal. It is strongly recommended that only proposers who are encouraged to submit a full proposal do so.
Reminder: Dates are estimates and subject to change. Please reference the solicitation for the most up-to-date information.
Ready to apply? To submit, sign-in to the ARPA-H Solutions site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Review responses to common questions about this funding opportunity asked by others in the proposer community.
You can also ask a question.
Proposers' Day
This is an optional event for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity, ask questions, and make connections. This event is not intended for patients, patient advocates, the media, or general interest audiences.
Event date: June 8, 2026.
Registration required by June 3, 2026 for in person attendance; virtual registration closes on June 5.
Event location: Hybrid in Washington, D.C. metro area
Special Notice ID: ARPA-H-SN-26-154
Details subject to change. Register for the event on the ARPA-H Solutions site.
Teaming
ARPA-H anticipates that teaming will be necessary to achieve the goals of this program. Prospective performers are encouraged to form teams with varied technical expertise to submit a research proposal.
To facilitate this process, we have created a teaming page where proposers can share their profiles and learn more about other interested parties.
Program Manager
