scholarly journals 4D.004 Directional Hearing Awareness, a new way to prevent accidents for helmet users

Author(s):  
Felipe Morales
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beechey ◽  
Jörg M. Buchholz ◽  
Gitte Keidser

Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on everyday communication.


1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-131
Author(s):  
R. Nilsson ◽  
G. Lidén ◽  
M. Rosén ◽  
M. Zöller

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (06) ◽  
pp. 295-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary T. Cord ◽  
Rauna K. Surr ◽  
Brian E. Walden ◽  
Laurel Olson

This study explored the use patterns and benefits of directional microphone technology in real world situations experienced by patients who had been fitted with switchable omnidirectional/directional hearing aids. Telephone interviews and paper-and-pencil questionnaires were used to assess perceived performance with each microphone type in a variety of listening situations. Patients who used their hearing aids regularly and switched between the two microphone configurations reported using the directional mode, on average, about one-quarter of the time. From brief descriptions, patients could identify listening situations in which each microphone mode should provide superior performance. Further, they reported encountering listening situations in which an omnidirectional microphone should provide better performance more frequently than listening situations in which the directional microphones should be superior. Despite using the omnidirectional mode more often and encountering situations in which an omnidirectional microphone should provide superior performance more frequently, participants reported the same level of satisfaction with each microphone type.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gibbons ◽  
R. N. Miles

Abstract A miniature silicon condenser microphone diaphragm has been designed that exhibits good predicted directionality, sensitivity, and reliability. The design was based on the structure of a fly’s ear (Ormia ochracea) that has highly directional hearing through mechanical coupling of the eardrums. The diaphragm that is 1mm × 2mm × 20 microns is intended to be fabricated out of polysilicon through microelectromechanical micromachining. It was designed through the finite-element method in ANSYS in order to build the necessary mode shapes and frequencies into the mechanical behavior of the design. Through postprocessing of the ANSYS data, the diaphragm’s response to an arbitrary sound source, sensitivity, robustness, and Articulation Index - Directivity Index (AI-DI) were predicted. The design should yield a sensitivity as high as 100 mV/Pa, an AI-DI of 4.764 with Directivity Index as high as 6 between 1.5 and 5 kHz. The diaphragm structure was predicted be able to withstand a sound pressure level of 151.74 dB. The sound level that would result in collapse of the capacitive sensor is 129.9 dB.. The equivalent sound level due to the self-noise of the microphone is predicted to be 30.8 dBA.


1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.H. FLETCHER ◽  
K. G. HILL

The male cicada of the species Cystosoma saundersii has a grossly enlarged, hollow abdomen and emits a loud calling song with a fundamental frequency of about 800 Hz. At the song frequency, its hearing is nondirectional. The female of C. saundersii lacks sound producing organs, has no enlargement of the abdomen, but possesses an abdominal air sac and has well developed directional hearing at the frequency of the species' song. Physical mechanisms are proposed that explain these observations in semi-quantitative detail using the standard method of electrical network analogues. The abdomen in the male, with its enclosed air, is found to act as a system resonant at the song frequency, thus contributing a large gain in radiated sound intensity. Coupling between this resonator and the auditory tympana accounts for the observed hearing sensitivity in the male, but destroys directionality. In the female, the abdominal cavity acts in association with the two auditory tympana as part of a phase shift network which results in appreciable directionality of hearing at the unusually low frequency of the male song.


1994 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsunemasa SATOH ◽  
Naohisa IIZUKA ◽  
Katsuhiro SHIMODA ◽  
Shinobu NOHARA ◽  
Tatsuya HASEGAWA ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Niewiarowicz ◽  
Tomasz Kaczmarek

Abstract This article presents results of investigations of the angle of directional hearing acuity (ADHA) as a measure of the spatial hearing ability with a special emphasis on people with hearing impairments. A modified method proposed by Zakrzewski has been used - ADHA values have been determined for 8 azimuths in the horizontal plane at the height of the listeners' head. The two-alternative-forced-choice method (2AFC), based on a new system of listeners' responses (left - right instead of no difference - difference in location of sound sources) was the procedure used in the experiment. Investigations were carried out for two groups of subjects: normal hearing people (9 persons) and hearing impaired people (sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus - 9 persons). In the experiment different acoustic signals were used: sinusoidal signals (pure tones), 1/3 octave noise, amplitude modulated 1/3 octave noise, CCITT speech and traffic noises and signals corresponding to personal character of tinnitus for individual subjects. The results obtained in the investigations showed, in general, a better localization of the sound source for noise type signals than those for tonal signals. Inessential differences exist in ADHA values for particular signals between the two groups of subjects. On the other hand, significant differences for tinnitus signals and traffic noise signals were stated. A new system of listeners' responses was used and appeared efficient (less dispersion of results compared to the standard system).


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