Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Listener account and advocacy guidance

Attending theatres with Auracast: Gideon’s Story

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/rnid-2026-gideon-theatre-auracast/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • RNID; interview with Gideon
  • RNID

Nonprofit advocacy (RNID; published alongside a theatre playbook created with GN Hearing; separate interview funding unstated)

Summary

One experienced hearing aid user describes clearer theatre dialogue alongside coverage, reconnection and audio-mix problems at two theatres.

Key findings

  • Gideon uses ReSound Vivia hearing aids and an iPhone 17 Pro Max. The account describes two theatre visits, rather than a recruited trial.
  • At the first theatre, dialogue was clearer but reception at the seats used was unreliable; Gideon reports reconnecting about ten times. RNID says the theatre had tested standalone receivers but not hearing aids.
  • At the second theatre, speech and music were transmitted before the show to let listeners check reception. Gideon reports a stable signal and fairly easy reconnection after leaving the auditorium.
  • Gideon normally mutes the hearing aid microphones to focus on streamed sound. At a musical, music was absent from the broadcast, so the microphones had to be unmuted to hear it properly. Adjusting a child’s settings at the interval improved that child’s experience of the second half.
  • RNID recommends a live audio feed before performances so customers can connect and adjust settings, clear names for transmitters serving different seating areas, staff support and consultation with people with hearing loss.

Limits

One named listener’s account, including a child’s experience; no controlled comparison or hearing aid firmware, app version, microphone levels or measured speech scores. It accompanies a playbook made with a hearing aid manufacturer; interview-specific funding is not stated.

Read the original

rnid.org.uk/2026/10/attending-theatres-with-auracast-gideons-story

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Cited in

Cite this source

RNID; interview with Gideon. Attending theatres with Auracast: Gideon’s Story. RNID. 12 October 2026. https://rnid.org.uk/2026/10/attending-theatres-with-auracast-gideons-story/ (accessed 13 October 2026).

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