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The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Portland-based CymaSpace $90,000 for a year-long project on music education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The research will test cochlear implant programming focused on music perception and pilot classroom lessons, with findings intended to shape a K-12 STEAM curriculum.
The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded $90,000 to Portland-based nonprofit CymaSpace for a year-long study of music listening and education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The project will test cochlear implant programming designed around music perception and pilot classroom lessons, with results intended to guide a K-12 STEAM curriculum.
CymaSpace’s Universal Music Design (UMD) project has two research tracks. At Oregon Health & Science University, a team led by Dr. Lina Reiss will study cochlear implant programming optimized for music, alongside experiments in multisensory listening. A second track will pilot lessons using tools developed by the project with Deaf and hard-of-hearing students in partner schools through Columbia Regional Inclusive Services.
The project is examining a gap between how many cochlear implants are designed to process sound and the demands of music. The source report says current signal-processing strategies are largely tuned for speech intelligibility, while music perception remains challenging for many implant recipients. The study will examine possible approaches; it does not report results or establish that a particular programming change improves music listening.
The team plans to use GestoLumina, a wearable interface that lets musicians engage with music through gesture, haptic feedback and light. A companion album by Deaf and hard-of-hearing artists is being developed as study material and as a resource for the curriculum. Portland artist and audio engineer Sean Wolfe, who uses a cochlear implant, is working on the album and a related installation.
Testing Music-Focused Implant Settings
The grant supports work at the intersection of music technology and accessible education. If the study produces usable findings, they could inform how schools teach music and STEAM subjects to Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, as well as how researchers investigate listening beyond speech recognition. That potential is the project’s stated aim, not a demonstrated outcome.
The classroom pilot also matters because it connects laboratory questions with school-based learning. Lessons informed by student participation could help the team assess how music is experienced through sound, movement, touch and light. The source report does not specify how many students will participate or how learning and engagement will be measured.
cochlear implant music programming
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CymaSpace’s Earlier Access Work
UMD builds on CymaSpace’s previous work on accessible music, including its #deafjazz initiative, which explored access to jazz concerts for Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. GestoLumina was presented at the 2024 New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference, according to the source report.
The research team includes project director Dr. Shawn Trail, lead design engineer Dillon Simeone, and Middle Tennessee State University associate professor Misty Jones Simpson. Project partners include Oregon State University’s OPEnS Lab, Eastern Washington University, Columbia Regional Inclusive Services and Telegraph Mastering. An advisory board includes researchers from OHSU, Oregon State, Gallaudet University and Eastern Washington University.
“For a long time, technology wasn’t designed for the richness of music, and that’s a gap we’re trying to close with this project.”
— Sean Wolfe, project audio engineer
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Study Outcomes Still Pending
The source report describes a project plan, not completed research. It does not provide study results, participant numbers, a detailed schedule or the specific measures that will be used to evaluate listening, engagement and learning. It also does not say when the curriculum will be completed or whether it will be adopted beyond the partner schools.
The NEA award amount is reported as $90,000, but the report does not break down how the grant will be spent. The effectiveness of music-focused implant programming and the classroom tools remains to be tested; the project’s stated goals should not be read as established outcomes.
accessible music learning tools for deaf students
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Research and Classroom Pilots
During the planned one-year study, the team is expected to carry out the laboratory work on music-oriented cochlear implant programming and multisensory listening, while piloting lessons with students through Columbia Regional Inclusive Services. The report also describes public workshops and community demonstrations as planned NEA-supported events, though it gives no dates or locations.
CymaSpace says findings from the research tracks will inform development of a K-12 STEAM curriculum. Further details on the study timeline, participant groups, evaluation methods and public events have not been provided in the source report.
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Key Questions
How much did the NEA award to CymaSpace?
The National Endowment for the Arts awarded $90,000 to support CymaSpace’s Universal Music Design project.
What will the Universal Music Design project study?
It will examine cochlear implant programming for music perception and multisensory listening, and pilot lessons for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
When will the research be completed?
The report describes the work as a year-long study, but does not give start or end dates.
Are the study’s results known yet?
No. The report outlines the project and its goals, but provides no completed findings on implant settings, student learning or the curriculum’s effectiveness.
What will happen to the findings?
CymaSpace says findings from the laboratory and classroom work are intended to inform a K-12 STEAM curriculum for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The report does not specify when that curriculum will be released.
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