A SCHOOLBOY'S invention to improve the lives of those with hearing loss has been praised as part of a global competition to find the innovators of tomorrow.

Jacob Levy, a Year 5 pupil at Rye St Antony School in Headington, was selected as one of just two UK winners, and seven globally, of ‘Ideas for Ears’ – MED-EL’s Global Inventors Art Competition.

The competition by the cochlear implant manufacturer was designed to encourage young inventors aged between six and 11 to dream up new, creative ways of helping people with hearing loss.

Judges were looking for original inventions that demonstrated imagination, practicality and innovation.

Jacob’s idea was ‘hearing glasses’, a pair of spectacles that allow people with hearing loss to see the things they cannot hear.

The glasses would detect sound and turn conversations into written words for the wearer to read in front of their eyes.

The frames would also convert everyday noises into images such as a dog barking or vibrate with a red warning when there was a potentially dangerous situation.

Jacob said: "I love inventing things, and I'm really pleased to be chosen as one of the winners.

"I wanted to design a gadget to help people with hearing loss know about the noises happening around them - to help them join in and keep safe from dangers they can't hear."

The eight-year-old will be flying out to Innsbruck in Austria as part of his award.

There he will be treated to an innovation tour of MED-EL’s research and development factory and have the opportunity to meet with their many inventors, including the company’s own co-founders Ingeborg and Erwin Hochmair.

Emma Coode, Rye St Antony Head of Prep said: “We are all extremely proud of Jacob’s achievement. To be selected from entrants from across the world is credit to his creativity and dedication – something that we encourage and develop in all of our students here at Rye St Antony.”