Most research investigating auditory perception is conducted in controlled laboratory
settings, potentially restricting its generalizability to the complex acoustic environment
outside the lab. The present study, in contrast, investigated auditory attention with
long-term recordings (>6 h) beyond the lab using a fully mobile, smartphone-based
ear-centered electroencephalography (EEG) setup with minimal restrictions for
participants. Twelve participants completed iterations of two variants of an oddball
task where they had to react to target tones and to ignore standard tones. A rapid
variant of the task (tones every 2 seconds, 5 minutes total time) was performed seated
and with full focus in the morning, around noon and in the afternoon under controlled
conditions. A sporadic variant (tones every minute, 160 minutes total time) was
performed once in the morning and once in the afternoon while participants followed
their normal office day routine. EEG data, behavioural data, and movement data (with
a gyroscope) were recorded and analyzed. The expected increased amplitude of the P3
component in response to the target tone was observed for both the rapid and the
sporadic oddball. Miss rates were lower and reaction times were faster in the rapid
oddball compared to the sporadic one. The movement data indicated that participants
spent most of their office day at relative rest. Overall, this study demonstrated that it is
feasible to study auditory perception in everyday life with long-term ear-EEG.