Strategies for Improving Speech Intelligibility and Warning Signal Detection in Communication Headsets/Hearing Protectors

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bernstein ER ; Brammer, A. J. ; Yu G
• Description:
  Strategies for improving speech understanding and warning signal detection when wearing communication headsets/hearing protectors (HPDs) in environmental noise must accommodate sounds from different sources at different times. A subband signal processing approach would appear desirable, with a delayless structure essential for active noise reduction (ANR). The requirements for communication channel and ANR controllers differ, owing to the different bandwidths required for speech and warning signals, and for ANR. Subbands for optimizing speech signal-to-noise ratios are commonly fractional-octave bandwidth, while computational efficiency favors linear subbands for ANR. Increasing the number of subbands reduces computational cost for the latter but the advantage is less apparent for communication signal control. Possibilities exist for harmonizing subband filter structures by constructing models of speech intelligibility using computationally efficient bandwidths. In contrast, algorithms for detecting warning sounds tend to be governed more by audibility than bandwidth considerations. The issues will be discussed using a simulation of a circumaural HPD that can replicate word scores obtained by a subject when subject-specific transfer functions are employed. Where available, results from physical devices and subjects will be included, as well as the consequences of differences in individual auditory abilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communication Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Communication Research Communications Equipment Signal Devices Sound Speech Transmission Warning Signals
• ISSN:
  0001-4966
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  134
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058871
• Citation:
  J Acoust Soc Am 2013 Nov; 134(5)(Pt 2):4189
• Contact Point Address:
  Anthony J. Brammer, Ergonomics Technol. Ctr., UConn Health Ctr., 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-2017
• Email:
  brammer@uchc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Denistry, Farmington, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Part Number:
  2
• Start Date:
  20060801
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
• End Date:
  20120731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:21bf9f185342c7d499d96fe66335a9a852aded73ed502e6320b7f319ecae51f1df50d4d7c3db56f5ab79ab4b4e4a49ad37597abb98f6d2b1d9b58de86373a182
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223246/cdc_223246_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 28.17 KB ]