scholarly journals Effects of Active and Passive Hearing Protection Devices on Sound Source Localization, Speech Recognition, and Tone Detection

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e0136568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Brown ◽  
Brianne T. Beemer ◽  
Nathaniel T. Greene ◽  
Theodore Argo ◽  
G. Douglas Meegan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Source Localization ◽  
Sound Source ◽  
Sound Source Localization ◽  
Hearing Protection ◽  
Protection Devices ◽  
Passive Hearing ◽  
Tone Detection

Spatial Hearing and Functional Auditory Skills in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Nicole E. Corbin ◽  
Emily Buss ◽  
Lori J. Leibold
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Source Localization ◽  
Sound Source ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Spatial Hearing ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Sound Source Localization ◽  
Unilateral Hearing Loss ◽  
Auditory Performance

Purpose The purpose of this study was to characterize spatial hearing abilities of children with longstanding unilateral hearing loss (UHL). UHL was expected to negatively impact children's sound source localization and masked speech recognition, particularly when the target and masker were separated in space. Spatial release from masking (SRM) in the presence of a two-talker speech masker was expected to predict functional auditory performance as assessed by parent report. Method Participants were 5- to 14-year-olds with sensorineural or mixed UHL, age-matched children with normal hearing (NH), and adults with NH. Sound source localization was assessed on the horizontal plane (−90° to 90°), with noise that was either all-pass, low-pass, high-pass, or an unpredictable mixture. Speech recognition thresholds were measured in the sound field for sentences presented in two-talker speech or speech-shaped noise. Target speech was always presented from 0°; the masker was either colocated with the target or spatially separated at ±90°. Parents of children with UHL rated their children's functional auditory performance in everyday environments via questionnaire. Results Sound source localization was poorer for children with UHL than those with NH. Children with UHL also derived less SRM than those with NH, with increased masking for some conditions. Effects of UHL were larger in the two-talker than the noise masker, and SRM in two-talker speech increased with age for both groups of children. Children with UHL whose parents reported greater functional difficulties achieved less SRM when either masker was on the side of the better-hearing ear. Conclusions Children with UHL are clearly at a disadvantage compared with children with NH for both sound source localization and masked speech recognition with spatial separation. Parents' report of their children's real-world communication abilities suggests that spatial hearing plays an important role in outcomes for children with UHL.

scholarly journals Towards Robust Multiple Blind Source Localization Using Source Separation and Beamforming

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 532
Author(s):  
Henglin Pu ◽  
Chao Cai ◽  
Menglan Hu ◽  
Tianping Deng ◽  
Rong Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Localization ◽  
Sound Source ◽  
Indoor Localization ◽  
Weighting Function ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Source Separation ◽  
Sound Source Localization ◽  
Angle Of Arrival ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Localization Algorithms

Multiple blind sound source localization is the key technology for a myriad of applications such as robotic navigation and indoor localization. However, existing solutions can only locate a few sound sources simultaneously due to the limitation imposed by the number of microphones in an array. To this end, this paper proposes a novel multiple blind sound source localization algorithms using Source seParation and BeamForming (SPBF). Our algorithm overcomes the limitations of existing solutions and can locate more blind sources than the number of microphones in an array. Specifically, we propose a novel microphone layout, enabling salient multiple source separation while still preserving their arrival time information. After then, we perform source localization via beamforming using each demixed source. Such a design allows minimizing mutual interference from different sound sources, thereby enabling finer AoA estimation. To further enhance localization performance, we design a new spectral weighting function that can enhance the signal-to-noise-ratio, allowing a relatively narrow beam and thus finer angle of arrival estimation. Simulation experiments under typical indoor situations demonstrate a maximum of only 4∘ even under up to 14 sources.

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