EarBabel is an AI-powered, multilingual educational audio platform that turns course content into structured lessons you can learn entirely by ear — no screen required.
Today's learners are increasingly non-traditional — working adults, commuters, English Language Learners, and caregivers. Their available study time happens on a bus, on a hospital shift, or between school pickups: exactly when a laptop or a video lecture is out of reach. They aren't unmotivated; the delivery system was built for someone else.
Learning management systems, video lectures, and AI tutors all assume a screen and uninterrupted attention.
Podcasts aren't built to teach, audiobooks narrate text written for the eye, and text-to-speech adds cognitive load.
None of today's audio formats check whether the learner actually understood.
Rewrites instructor materials for the ear, in short attention-sized segments.
Neural text-to-speech delivers content in the learner's own language.
Comprehension questions the learner answers out loud.
Re-explains a concept on the spot when a learner struggles.
Cohort-level comprehension and engagement insights.
Maria is a nursing assistant studying pharmacology. Her study time is a 40-minute commute. She opens EarBabel, selects Spanish, and presses play. Ten minutes in, it asks a question. She answers out loud, hears the confirmation through her earbuds, and never touches the screen.
EarBabel's segment length and comprehension cadence draw on decades of research in auditory attention, listening effort, and retrieval practice. The first pilot will run with non-traditional learners at the University of New Mexico.
Professor of Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of Washington. Two decades of research on auditory attention and listening effort; Fellow, Acoustical Society of America.
Principal Research Scientist, University of Washington. Leading contributor and maintainer of the open-source MNE-Python and SciPy scientific-computing projects.
Faculty in Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of Washington. IES-funded researcher in educational intervention design and evaluation.
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, UW College of Arts & Sciences. 25+ years in university administration and compliance.